Michael Hailu was born in 1999 in Ethiopia.

He graduated from the Ale School of Fine Arts at Addis Ababa University in 2022.

He has worked in mixed media, photography, video and installation. With each work, he makes a strong statement about the disingenuity of the Ethiopian parliament and reveals the true feelings and opinions of the people.

He has declared himself his own muse, painting himself in female postures and figures. This reflects his confusion about social norms. While questioning the concept of gender, he analyzes how we came about following notions of male and female. He inquires, are we conditioned to be gendered or is it a tradition passed down through generations?

Inspired by French women and their attributes he reimagines women from Ethiopia as being part of the ‘golden age.’ Using gold paint he contrasts these paintings of women with paintings of men with silver backgrounds expressing the domination of masculinity in the world.

In other works he transgressed the themes of war and peace, questioning the vitality and use of war and its justification. These works are performative and push the boundaries of art.