Saturday, November 8, 2025 (4pm)
(RE)COVERING IN MOVEMENT
Co-presented by Aurora Picture Show and Houston Cinema Arts Festival
Location: Aurora Picture Show – 5601A Navigation Blvd.
Free Admission
Aurora and Houston Cinema Arts Festival co-present (Re)covering in Movement, a selection of experimental videos from Ethiopia’s Addis Video Art Festival. Organized by artist, curator, and educator Betelhem Makonnen, the program brings together artists with a shared inquiry: How do we endure loss and transformation, and find grounding amid chaos? Ethiopian artists including Helina Metaferia, Mulugeta Gebrekidan and Kibrom Gebremedhin, explore tensions of movement and stillness, belonging and estrangement felt as Addis Ababa undergoes voracious, large-scale redevelopment akin to many sister world capital cities. In parallel to this displacement, artists Jessica A. Rodriguez, Shubhangi Singh and Riikka Haapasaari among others, grapple with contemporary crises—wars, economic collapse, climate apocalypse—asking if art can recover our stories and be a healing device. As Makonnen notes, while these artists adjust and re-adjust the lens, movement and grounding become essential processes of daily life; framing and reframing turn into an effort to heal and recuperate.
Note: There is no late entry allowed at this and most of Aurora’s screenings and events.
Program:
Melting Jewels, Kibrom Gebremedhin (2016, 5:32)
Dzata: The Institute of Technological Consciousness, Francois Knoetze, Russel Hlongwane, Amy Louise Wilson (2023, 8:25)
(w)here is here? Betelhem Makonnen (2014-16, 2:35)
What Kind Of Times Are These, Dipin Chenayil (2024, 2:04)
The Newest Flower, Helina Metaferia (2015, 7:30)
afrontaciones (f.) copings–self-testimony. Narrativas de la Memoria y la Violencia del habitar, Jessica A. Rodriguez (2023, 11:21)
Birth of a Grenade, Shubhangi Singh (2024, 7:28)
Inside Out, Mulugeta Gebrekidan (2013, 2:58)
Look at your light, granite, Riikka Haapasaari (2023, 7:42)
Curator: From Ethiopia, Betelhem Makonnen lives and works in Austin, Texas. Through photography, video, text and installation, her practice draws on personal experiences and daily observation to translate perception, memory, and place within anthropological and historical inquiries. She holds an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) and a BA in African History and Literature from UT Austin. She exhibits nationally and internationally and co-curates the Addis Video Art Festival. Makonnen is part-time faculty at SAIC.
Addis Video Art Festival provides a platform for innovative video art in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and aims to create a dialogue between local, and international artists by encouraging digital media culture. The festival screens throughout the city in a variety of locations including street corners, rooftops, public centers and art centers. By sharing video art in conventional and non-conventional settings, the festival aims to reach both the artist community and the everyday passerby.
Image: Betelhem Makonnen, (W)here is Here, 2014. Image courtesy of Addis Video Art Festival