Yatreda is an Ethiopian family of artists creating striking still photography and videography in the style of 𝘵𝘪𝘻𝘪𝘵𝘢- a crucial concept in Ethiopian culture related to nostalgia for the past.

As a family collective, Yatreda’s work can and has been best described as “translating a grandmother’s recipe into digital art”. Yatreda combines a rich personal history, drawing from art, music and literature, with Ethiopia’s unique cultural legacy to produce its own unique brand of art.

Kiya Tadele is the project’s leader. She moved from a small town to Addis Ababa, working first as a model, but soon moved behind the lens, learning the basics as an assistant, then became free to channel her heritage and artistic upbringing into making her own visual art. Enlisting close family members as collaborators, this collective became Yatreda.

Yatreda is characterised by willingness and collaboration, with each member of the family contributing their unique skills and passion to the creative collective. Kiya’s husband provides production expertise, while her sister features as both a cast member and supportive assistant. The unique family nature of the artistic enterprise extends to the shoots as well. Yatreda uses art as a unique bridge, connecting Ethiopia’s rich and deep oral history with contemporary tech culture, documented on the blockchain.

The ‘Tree of Life’ is one of thirteen pieces within the Adam and Hewan collection that reimagines the Genesis narrative with an African locus, rediscovering the continent’s origins as the cradle of humanity.