Mara: 40 Years of Oromo Knowledge Making

The Mara art exhibition honors the many ways Oromo communities have built, shared, and renewed knowledge across displacement, diaspora, and generations. Mara celebrates forty years of Oromo knowledge-making in the diaspora marking a moment when many institutions in the Oromo diaspora are celebrating landmark anniversaries. Among them are the Oromo Studies Association, established in 1986, and the Oromo Sports Federation of North America (OSFNA), founded in 1996.

Mara brings together three interconnected expressions of Oromo knowledge: scholarly, ritual, and creative. On view are examples of Oromo community scholarship, Oromo women’s ritual knowledge and practice, and the work of young Oromo artists living in Minnesota.

Artists featured in the Mara exhibit include: Lokho Kotile, an Oromo artist, illustrator, curator, and storyteller. She holds an MFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and works in watercolor and digital illustration. Murata Wolldeyohannes, a photographer based in Saint Paul whose work encompasses portrait, fashion, street, and sports photography. Agartuu Inor, an Oromo American artist, essayist, and creative technologist trained at RISD and Brown. She works across sculpture, social practice, and digital environments