MS01.01.03.B01.F27.007

[Handwritten on yellow lined paper]

2

the reign of [strikethrough: rolay] royal secession or the divine right of kings ^ abroad, [strikethrough: that] which
took hold on European soil and has existed into our own times -
Skunder fills his paintings with bits and pieces of history collaging
forms ^ together that are both secular and profane. [strikethrough: and] His art embraces that which
is real as well as that which shows fantasy. The visual expressions
we have become accustomed to [strikethrough: reading] seeing in Skunder's paintings reveal
a rearranged vocabulary of ancient signs and symbols that
are not alien to this artist's culture. He has an [strikethrough: God given] heritable right
to scribble white ink poigantly over the surface of a mysterious
animal which skims about the background of a particular
painting just as _____. These calligraphic hues [strikethrough: echo] repeat the linear patterns
found on ancient ^ warriors shields made of vellum as well as the Amharic
Alphabets found in the marriage contracts painted on strips of Goat
skin. Many of these paintings which bridge the gap between
the legendary Kingdoms of Ancient [strikethrough: Kings and Quee] royalty + (the Queen of Sheba
was a real Ethiopian woman) advance in content in their
Cinematic overview from the ancient world to the modern.

Ethiopian ^ cultural history is paramount in the iconographic design
these works show. The ^ formal structure of the ancient churches of La Tabella
have provided sustenance for Skunder's creative [strikethrough: [?] just as] when mass and
volume were needed as accents in his art. History is echoed
systematically throughout his work. It provides a salient
reference for highlights in the life of his people and
in his own life. [strikethrough: He as been careful] Time has carefully ordered Skunders to [strikethrough: order his own]
life so as to [strikethrough: be able to] permit him the luxury of having a continuous [strikethrough: to] dream. From
the time that he scribbled and doodled the stories of Ethopian
bravery in the war against Faicism ^ [strikethrough: in the early 1940's] until ^ the day he [strikethrough: land[?] received] become a
student at the [strikethrough: a Scholarship] Academic de la Grande Chaumiere in Paris,
Skunder has kept alive ^ in his work a dream, one which was destined to