Nenne Sanguineti Poggi left a lasting mark on Ethiopian and Eritrean art and architecture. Tekkà (1948) was made when Sanguineti Poggi settled back in Eritrea following the Treaty of Paris of 1947, coinciding with a time when the soon-to-be Federation of Ethiopia and Eritrea (1952–1962) was welcoming foreign enterprise to relaunch its economy. The work depicts Tekkà (or Tekké), who was of the Beni-Amer people from the western lowlands towards the border with Sudan. Stylistically, the painting echoes Art Deco and Expressionism, and its relationship to exoticism is a concern. A review of an exhibition of paintings held in Addis Ababa in 1975 considers how the work’s composition reflects the affect tying the painter to her subject, which saves it from an “empty aestheticism”. Indeed, across her life, Sanguineti Poggi questioned her role as a privileged Italian woman active in formerly colonial territories. She explained: “For me the problem was to express a great love for the poor. ‘Destitute are Christ’s folk’ has rung in my ears forever”.
This is the first time the work of Nenne Sanguineti Poggi is presented at Biennale Arte.
—Sofia Gotti
