blaxTARLINES KUMASI, in collaboration with the Opoku Ware II Museum, hosted esteemed Ghanaian artist, Ibrahim Mahama, at the Department of Painting of Sculpture on February 4th 2021. This happened early in the year to give new students an idea of alumni of the Department who have gone on to make significant contributions to the professional art scene on the global stage. Mahama shared his practice with students, faculty and members of the public. He talked about his independent work, his interest in Ghana’s post-colonial history/present, his work on building institutions such as Savannah Centre for Contemporary Art (SCCA) Tamale, Red Clay, Nkrumah Volini, and his passion for creating conditions of sharing knowledge and imparting onto younger generations.

Ibrahim Mahama is an independent artist who has been interested in the material history of objects in relation to space. Jute sacks originally used in transporting Cocoa (and later used for charcoal and other commodities) that have been acquired through negotiations, conversations and exchanges in market places are superimposed on various sites which raise aesthetic and political questions. For his contribution to Orderly Disorderly, Mahama presents a two-channel video installation titled EXCHANGE-EXCHANGER (1957-2057) which explores the relationship between labor and architecture. His work has been shown in both the 56th and 57th Venice Biennale, documenta 14, Athens and Kassel (2017), The Gown Must Go to Town (2015), Cornfields in Accra (2016), and White Cube Gallery in London.