Tadias' 20 Favorite People of the Year

Please go to Tadias.com to read about a super impressive list of Heroes.

Included is photographer, Aida Muluneh who is my final ARTIST SPOTLIGHT of 2008!

Aida Muluneh: Reshaping our global image through photography
"I have spent most of my artistic career promoting alternative images of Africa. DESTA For Africa was born out of my belief that we have to be accountable for how the world perceives us. Even though Africa is ever growing and rapidly changing, the images that we see in the mass media are not reflective of that, ” Muluneh says in a recent interview with Tadias Magazine.

“I feel that African artists have a responsibility to manage how the continent’s image is portrayed, and we can do that by actually providing the necessary education and resources to those who are interested in documenting their own realities.”

Her new organization, appropriately named DESTA (happiness in amharic) for Africa, is a local NGO based in Addis Ababa. Muluneh (pictured above) hopes to encourage a new generation of African Photographers who are able to compete in the global media industry while reshaping the image of Africa reflecting their personal experiences.

Go Aida - We support you!