By Justin Skinner | Inside Toronto

TORONTO — Talented artists of Ethiopian and Eritrean heritage will showcase their works as the Selam Visual Arts Festival comes to the Gladstone Hotel in Toronto, Canada.

Eritrean-born downtown Toronto resident Robel Matthews will be among several established and emerging local artists exhibiting their works at the festival alongside the works of noted Ethiopian photographers Aida Muluneh, Michael Tsegaye and Antonio Fiorente.

Matthews, who moved to Canada in 2006, is one of the more established artists in the festival. The 28-year-old Regent Park resident has studied and practiced art for nearly two decades.

“I studied art when I was 10 and I started to draw with charcoal,” he said. “I lived in Kenya for six years and I had some solo exhibitions and group exhibitions there.”

The festival was organized by Sound the Horn, a group dedicated to empowering Ethiopian and Eritrean youth in Toronto. It came about after some young artists decided to find ways to slow the spread of HIV and AIDS among African youth in Canada.

“I have two artworks (in the show) that deal with the dangers of HIV and AIDS,” Matthews said. “They look at it in a universal way to show the dangers in all kinds of cultures.”

While Matthews does not know anyone who has been diagnosed with HIV or AIDS personally, he said it is important for youth to learn about the diseases.

“It’s something that too many young people have to deal with,” he said.

The Selam Visual Arts Festival will take place Saturday, March 27 and Sunday, March 28 at the Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen St. W. The festival will include an opening reception with some of the featured artists from 7 to 11 p.m. on Saturday and a question-and-answer session and live entertainment from 3 to 11 p.m. on Sunday.

For more information on the festival or on the work being done by Sound the Horn, visit www.soundthehorn.com