Artist Ibrahim Mahama exhibits work rooted in Ghana's history
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Ibrahim Mahama, a Ghanaian artist, opened his first major exhibition in France at the Fondation Cartier in Paris, titled “Le Temps des récoltes” (The Time of Harvests).
Mahama gained recognition at the Venice Biennale in 2015 and has since received a diplomatic passport from Ghana to showcase his art internationally. He has established three art centers in his hometown of Tamale, in northern Ghana, where he creates installations centered around themes of globalisation, slavery, and memory.
Mahama’s work often incorporates reclaimed materials and objects with historical significance. His installation, Parliament of Ghosts, features two hundred traditional Ashanti wooden stools representing a missed opportunity for democracy, echoing a 1966 coup in Ghana. He also presented Things Fall Apart, a reconstruction of an old glass bottle factory, demonstrating how nature reclaims abandoned spaces and highlighting the history embedded within objects.
The artist aims to transform art into a form of giving, drawing connections between collective work, memory, and the stories objects hold. He collaborates with other African artists and collectives, like the Cercle d'Art des Travailleurs de Plantation Congolaise, to create art that addresses colonialism, land ownership, and cultural heritage, hoping to foster a new era of artistic exchange and repatriation.
