Fitsum Shebeshe is a curator and painter based in Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Before moving to the United States in 2016, he was Assistant Curator at the National Museum of Ethiopia. In 2012, Shebeshe co-founded the 1957 Initiative to annually celebrate the liberation of African countries from colonialism through the arts. In 2013, he curated the 1957 Art Show at the National Museum of Ethiopia on the occasion of the 50th Golden Jubilee Anniversary of the African Union, and in 2017, he was the curator of Depart Africa, at the Baltimore School for the Arts. Shebeshe holds a Masters of Fine Arts in Curatorial Practice from the Maryland Institute College of Art.