Kedir Keri Ousman
Member
Painting, Graphics
About the Artist
Kedir Keri Ousman was born on November 18, 1968, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and spent his
childhood in the lush, forested city of Metu in Illubabor, Ethiopia. He pursued formal training at
the Addis Ababa Fine Art School (1985–1989) before continuing his education at the Surikov
Institute of Fine Arts in Moscow, Russia, where he was admitted to the Painting Department in
1993. He earned his Master’s degree in 2000 and later expanded his studies in computer
graphics in Rostov, Russia. Alongside painting, Kedir developed expertise in fresco, sgraffito,
and stone mosaic.
Artist Statement
Kedir Keri Ousman
From 2001 to 2005, he served as Department Head at Neon Addis, an advertising company in Ethiopia. Beginning in 2004, he joined the Addis Ababa University School of Fine Arts and Design as an instructor in Painting and Art History, and also lectured at Saint Yared Music School on art history.
Kedir’s work has been featured in both solo and group exhibitions at esteemed institutions including the Surikov Art Academy (Surikov, Russia), the Tretyakov Art Gallery (Moscow, Russia), the National Museum of Ethiopia (Addis Ababa), Alliance Ethio-Française (Addis Ababa), and Lazar Art Gallery (Charles City, Virginia).
Beyond exhibitions, Kedir has led the full design, execution, and project management of several large-scale monumental art projects in Ethiopia. Notable works include the Wolaita Sodo Cultural Center, the Hawassa Cultural Hall, and a monumental complex at Gabriel Plaza in Piazza, Hawassa.
In 2013, Kedir relocated to the United States. Since then, he has worked as a freelance teaching artist with Carpediem Arts and the Create Arts Center in Silver Spring, Maryland, where he has
trained multiple cohorts of emerging artists in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. In 2022, he co-founded Nomad Art Zone, a creative studio in Silver Spring, with fellow artists.