Ibrahim Mahama's Institution-Building in Ghana and Global Exhibitions Redefine African Art Spaces
Ibrahim Mahama, a Ghanaian artist, has founded multiple institutions in northern Ghana, such as the Savannah Contemporary Art Centre (SCCA), Red Clay Studio, and Blaxtarlines in Tamale. These projects function as experimental museums aimed at fostering community involvement and restitution. He first gained prominence with his jute sack installation at the 56th Venice Biennale in 2015, under the curation of Okwui Enwezor. Mahama has also showcased his work at Documenta 14 (2017) and the Ghana Pavilion during the 58th Venice Biennale (2019). Currently, he has an exhibition at White Cube in Lusanga, Congo, featuring jute sacks at the Congolese Plantation Workers Art League, where he critiques Western conservation practices while promoting artistic advancement and infrastructure growth, motivated by a market incident in 2014.
Key facts
- Ibrahim Mahama founded Savannah Contemporary Art Centre (SCCA), Red Clay Studio, and Blaxtarlines in Tamale, Ghana
- Mahama's jute sack installation at the 56th Venice Biennale in 2015 brought him international recognition
- He is represented by White Cube gallery and has participated in Documenta 14, Venice Biennale, and Lagos Photo Festival
- Mahama's Dig Where You Stand exhibition promotes decolonization and sustainable economic models
- His ongoing exhibition at White Cube in Lusanga, Congo critiques colonial extraction at a former Unilever plantation
- Mahama's first solo Hong Kong exhibition features textile paintings referencing Fela Kuti and postcolonial literature
- SCCA's programming includes a retrospective of modernist painter Galle Winston Kofi Dawson curated by Bernard Akoi-Jackson
- Mahama collaborates with institutions like African Artists' Foundation Lagos and Centre for Contemporary Art Lagos
Entities
Artists
- Ibrahim Mahama
- Okwui Enwezor
- Galle Winston Kofi Dawson
- Bernard Akoi-Jackson
- Selom Kudjie
- Michael Armitage
- Zanele Muholi
- Barthélémy Toguo
- Renzo Martens
- Fela Kuti
- Chinua Achebe
- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- Kwame Nkrumah
- Vladimir Nabokov
- Lord Byron
- Azu Nwagbogu
Institutions
- White Cube
- Savannah Contemporary Art Centre (SCCA)
- Red Clay Studio
- Blaxtarlines
- Venice Biennale
- Documenta
- Lagos Photo Festival
- Lubumbashi Biennale
- Congolese Plantation Workers Art League (CATPC)
- African Artists' Foundation (AAF) Lagos
- Centre for Contemporary Art Lagos
- Zeitz MOCAA
- Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art
- Sotheby's
- Lever Brothers
- Unilever
- BBC
- Artreview
Locations
- Ghana
- Tamale
- Accra
- Venice
- Italy
- Lusanga
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Congo
- Hong Kong
- China
- Lagos
- Nigeria
- Burkina Faso
- United States
- Soviet Union
- Europe
- Africa