Return to Ethiopia — The Derg Years

After completing her studies at California Lutheran University, Desta returned to Ethiopia with her husband, Yohannes Tekle, in the early 1970s. They came home at the threshold of profound political change. In 1974, Emperor Haile Selassie was overthrown and Ethiopia entered the Derg era.

The upheaval transformed Desta's life. Her husband was facing political danger and eventually fled to Kenya, while Desta remained in Ethiopia and raised their daughter Feben while struggling to paint during these tumultuous times.

She built a professional life outside the studio. Desta worked first with the Ethiopian Tourist Organization and later with the Ethiopian Tourist Trading Enterprise, where she eventually headed the artistic division.

The period was difficult for Ethiopian artists in general where artists and art institutions operated under the demands and restrictions of the socialist state. Creativity was stifled and redirected towards the State’s demand. While that reality existed, the DERG regime still invested in Tourism and Desta found a creative outlet in design and production of merchandise as well as interior design works for Government led hotel chains.

A CREATIVE REAWAKENINGN

The political transition of 1991 opened a new chapter in Ethiopia—and in Desta Hagos's artistic life. After years in which the country's political environment had constrained artistic expression and opportunities to exhibit, the changing atmosphere created greater space for artists to show their work, travel and reconnect with audiences.

For Desta, this became a period of renewed creative energy and visibility. In 1994, she mounted her first solo exhibition in decades.

Her exhibition activity accelerated. Desta's work began reaching audiences both within Ethiopia and internationally, eventually appearing in exhibitions in the United States, Canada, Denmark, Korea, Kenya, Spain and elsewhere. Her paintings also entered important institutional and private collections, including the National Museum of Ethiopia.

After a long professional career with Ethiopia's tourism institutions—including serving as Head of the Artistic Activities Department—Desta retired in 2002.

Freed from the demands of a full-time professional career, Desta could finally give herself completely to art. She established her own studio and began working as a full-time artist. By 2017, she had participated in more than 50 exhibitions, and in 2018 she became the first female artist in Ethiopia to receive the distinction of Laureate Artist.