ELSHA YEYESUSWORK is a multidisciplinary artist and arts worker based in
Moh’kins’tsis | Calgary, AB.

Artist Elsha Yeyesuswork

Originally from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, her work is rooted in stories of migration, identity, and cultural continuity. Her visual arts practice draws from ancestral ceramic traditions, reimagining them through a contemporary lens.

As a curator, she engages with work informed by research, history, and diasporic perspectives, with a focus on voices from the Global South.

Elsha holds a BA in International Relations from the University of Calgary and applies a systems-focused approach to her creative work. Over her years in Calgary’s non-profit arts sector, Elsha led initiatives that amplified emerging and BIPOC artists, serving as Community Programs Director at Downstage Theatre and Research & Program Development Lead at M:ST Performative Art Society.

Two women stand on stage in front of an audience, with four women seated behind them. The stage is dark with a black curtain background, and the audience is sitting in chairs watching the presentation.
Art display of ceramic vases and sculptures in a gallery window with cityscape reflection.

She is currently Editor-in-Chief of ISSAY! Magazine, an arts and culture publication with a global base of contributors. ISSAY! (from the Amharic “እሰይ”) publishes multilingual, multidisciplinary work for a readership that spans North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia.

Elsha also currently serves as Assistant Editor for the Journal of Canadian Ethnic Studies, a Project MUSE publication from the Johns Hopkins University Press.