Desta Hagos

Desta Hagos was born in 1952 in the town of Adwa, located in the northern Tigray region of Ethiopia. Her interest in art was sparked by a gift of crayons from her father when she was five years old. When she was nine, she moved to Addis Ababa. In 1966, Desta earned a diploma from the Addis Ababa School of Fine Arts and Design and became the school's first female graduate. She followed it up with a Bachelor of Arts degree in visual arts in 1969. Her work and developing style as a painter was influenced by artist Gebre Kristos Desta, who was one of her teachers. She is credited as the first woman painter to have held a solo art exhibition in Ethiopia. Desta briefly took an art instructor position at the Addis Ababa School, but soon chose to leave for the United States with her fiancé when he received a scholarship to study there. She continued her own studies and completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts at California Lutheran College, graduating in 1974. == Career ==

Desta and her husband returned to Ethiopia in 1974, Desta was prevented by authorities from following him. In 2015, one of her paintings appeared at an Ethiopian cultural exhibition at the Katara Cultural Village in Qatar, while her art also featured in the international Miami Art Basel, marking the first year Ethiopian artwork had been included at the Miami-based art fair. Her paintings often focus on nature and landscapes, along with more abstract pieces. One of her topics of focus is the day-to-day experiences of women. == References ==