Afewerk studied at the Central School of Arts and Crafts and the Slade School of Fine Art. England gave him technique and a tradition to argue with. He left in 1954 carrying both.
Every place Afewerk Tekle inhabited left a mark on the work he produced there. The light was different, the faces were different, the architecture carried different memories. He was an artist who believed that where you were determined — at least in part — what you could see.