Ghana's Contemporary Art Scene Flourishes as Returnees and New Spaces Transform Accra
Patti Waldmeir, a journalist for the Financial Times, revisits Ghana, where the contemporary art scene is flourishing. Celebrating its 10th anniversary, Gallery 1957, located within the Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City and owned by Marwan Zakhem, showcased an installation by Serge Attukwei Clottey. Zakhem emphasizes that Accra's art scene is becoming a global focal point. Since its inception in 2016, Gallery 1957's Accra Culture Week has drawn international collectors, with 90% of attendees being from abroad, including 60% from the U.S. Selasie Gomado's Artemartis supports emerging artists like Courage Hunke. Tarek Mouganie's Front/Back Accra combines contemporary art with local cocktails. In Tamale, Ibrahim Mahama's Red Clay Studio incorporates discarded materials into his artwork. Ghana's luxury tourism features eco-safari lodges such as Zaina Lodge.
Key facts
- Patti Waldmeir first visited Ghana in 1980 as a Financial Times journalist and returned nearly 50 years later.
- Gallery 1957 in Accra celebrated its 10th anniversary with an installation by Serge Attukwei Clottey made from discarded cooking-oil containers.
- Gallery 1957 is named for the year Ghana gained independence from Britain and is part of the Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City complex owned by Marwan Zakhem.
- Marwan Zakhem estimates that 90% of collectors at Gallery 1957 are international, with about 60% Americans.
- Artemartis is an incubator for emerging Ghanaian talent founded by Selasie Gomado, who quit his engineering job.
- Courage Hunke creates art from plastic shopping bags, till receipts, order slips, invoices, and obituary posters.
- Front/Back Accra is a members' club and cultural salon founded by Tarek Mouganie, a fourth-generation Ghanaian-Lebanese and 2024 Yale World Fellow.
- Ibrahim Mahama, the first African to top ArtReview's Power100, runs Red Clay Studio in Tamale and his works can command prices over €100,000.
Entities
Artists
- Serge Attukwei Clottey
- Jeremiah Quarshie
- Courage Hunke
- Ibrahim Mahama
- Marwan Zakhem
- Kwesi Botchway
- Amoako Boafo
- Nish McCree
- Elisabeth Efua Sutherland
- Kehinde Wiley
- John Agyekum Kufuor
Institutions
- Financial Times
- Gallery 1957
- Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City
- Artemartis
- Front/Back Accra
- Affinity Africa
- Christie Brown
- Red Clay Studio
- ArtReview
- Zaina Lodge
- Buka
- Kozo
- Rent a Wife Kitchen
- +233 Jazz Bar & Grill
- 1957 Gallery
- Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast & Galleria Mall
- Cowrie Culture
- Terra Alta
- Savannah Center for Contemporary Art
- Black Rock Senegal
- Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology
- Biennale di Venezia
- Artribune
Locations
- Ghana
- Accra
- Jamestown
- Tamale
- Osu
- Zaina Lodge
- Dakar
- Senegal
- Kumasi
- Venice
- Italy