Project Graduation
2012
Alliance Ethio-Française - Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Floor Installation

The Cobblestone Project in Ethiopia is a government and community initiative that began in 2009 to build urban roads using local materials and labor. Supported by international partners, it aimed to create jobs, especially for young people and women, while improving city infrastructure. Workers were trained in just fifteen days to pave streets with stones collected from areas such as Legetafo, near Addis Ababa. The program became known for its efficiency, visible results, and ability to turn local resources into a national development tool.

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Government media later portrayed the project as a remarkable initiative that even attracts university graduates holding first and second degrees. These stories of educated youth working on cobblestone streets revealed a complex social reality that caught Kebreab’s attention. His installation grew from this tension between knowledge and labor. By using materials taken from road construction, he reimagines them as symbols of learning and accomplishment. The work invites reflection on how education, work, and social worth are defined and connected in contemporary Ethiopia.

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Each cobblestone in the floor installation is painted black and tied with a ribbon, resembling a graduation gown. This transformation connects two worlds: the physical effort of roadwork and the intellectual pursuit of learning. The gesture invites viewers to consider how society measures knowledge and dignity when formal education does not always lead to opportunity.

While acknowledging the Cobblestone Project’s success in job creation, Project Graduation also questions its deeper implications. It quietly asks: What happens when years of study end with the same short training as any other laborer? The installation carries a reflective, calm tone, expressing disappointment without resentment.

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When exhibited in 2012 as part of Prêt-à-Partager: Ethiopia Programme at the Alliance Ethio-Française, the exhibition text was censored for its view of government policy and media control. This act of censorship became an extension of the artwork, revealing the tension between creative expression and institutional authority in cultural spaces and public institutions.