Eight photographic C-prints by Ibrahim Mahama that consider the internal migration of workers in
Ghana and the extractive mining industry in the South of the country have been acquired by the
Contemporary Art Society’s Collections Fund at Frieze; the suite of photographs will enter the
collection at Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery.
I think it is interesting to consider of the body in relation to the trains that were built along Southern Ghana, and the migration of Ghanaians from the North to the South during the Anglo-Ashanti war and subsequent economic migration. As we see in these photographs, I look at the relationship between the body, tattoos, and the maps created by the British. The scars visible on the leather remind us of traditional identity scars commonly found within local tribes. Though, I understand that my work touches on colonial legacy, my focus has been to look at the impact and memory of migration and how that can lead us to creating new memories for the future.
Ibrahim Mahama, artist,
Ibrahim Mahama explores themes of commodity, migration, and globalisation. His work is alert to the
impact movement can have on the local environment as well as concerns around land-use change,
and social unrest. The photographic C-prints, all from 2019, depict the tattooed arms of long-term
collaborators Mahama has worked with in Ghana. Some are overlaid on historic colonial maps of key
locations, cities, and villages across the country. Others are photographed against decaying leather
train seats, salvaged from the Gold Coast Railway. Tattooing family names or locations of birth on
forearms is a common practice throughout rural Ghana, due to a lack of basic identification papers
like birth certificates or driver licences.
Since 2019, Ibrahim Mahama has established three cultural centres in Ghana – The SCCA, in his
hometown of Tamale, Red Clay studios in nearby Janna Kpe?? and Nkrumah Volini, a renovated
brutalist silo. All are artist-run project spaces, exhibition and education centers, a cultural repository,
and artists’ residencies. These institutions are Mahama’s contribution to the development and
expansion of the contemporary art scene in Ghana, with the aim to inspire and empower his local
community through engagement with art. In keeping with the artist’s belief in circular economies,
Mahama funds the building and programming at all three locations through the sale of his artworks,
which are typically made with local collaborators at his own studio there.
“That Mahama’s work has been so prominently featured in international exhibitions from Venice to Chicago in recent years, demonstrates how powerfully he is articulating the contemporary legacies of colonial history in Ghana. He brings us an understanding of lived realities we might otherwise be completely ignorant of. We are very proud to be bringing this major body of work permanently to the UK.”
Caroline Douglas, Director of Contemporary Art Society
The Contemporary Art Society’s Collections Fund was set up in 2012 and is designed to support the
acquisition of significant contemporary works for Contemporary Art Society museum members across
the UK, drawing together the knowledge and experience of private collectors with that of museum
curators. contemporaryartsociety.org
