Umoja Art Gallery has opened a new solo exhibition by Eritrean artist Nebay Abraha, titled “I Want to Go Home,” offering an intimate exploration of displacement, homesickness, and the resilience of immigrants through a series of evocative mixed-media collages.
Born in Eritrea and having lived in Ethiopia and South Sudan before settling in Uganda, Abraha draws from his lived experience to confront the emotional and psychological complexities of migration.
His work is deeply personal, yet universally resonant—portraying figures from the Horn of Africa who appear suspended in unfamiliar spaces, capturing what the artist calls “a universal sense of being out of place.”
At the heart of the exhibition is the symbolic motif of the spider, a recurring figure in Abraha’s visual language. The spider, he explains, represents the quiet suffering of those displaced—isolated, forgotten, and often struggling to weave new meaning in foreign environments.
“This exhibition is a homecoming of sorts—not to a physical place, but to a feeling,” Abraha said at the opening. “Through these pieces, I hope to create a space for empathy, allowing others to feel and understand the nuanced emotions that come with leaving your home behind.”
Visitors praised Abraha’s distinctive artistic voice and the emotional depth of his work, noting that the exhibition resonates far beyond immigrant communities. Many described it not only as an artistic showcase but also as a social commentary—urging audiences to reflect on the human stories behind headlines about migration and displacement.
“I Want to Go Home” invites viewers to look beyond statistics and borders, offering a raw, poetic meditation on identity, belonging, and the often invisible toll of migration.
