"That sense of engagement is what I’m interested in. It's everything, it's not just the physical structures but also the ideological values of the structures. What does it mean to the community to put up a building, and what does it change within that space?” We’re catching up with Ibrahim Mahama at Design Indaba 2020 after the softly-spoken Ghanaian artist’s standing ovation-garnering presentation.

Mahama obtained a BA, MFA and PHD from Kumasi’s Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, where he was consumed by the question of what constitutes a painting. And as he closed his address at the Cape Town conference, he reflected that he is still reconfiguring what art means to him. “As an artist I’m just trying to see how much I can reinvent what it is for art to be. Does it have to be a painting on the wall? Can it be an aeroplane which is an old thing reused? Can it be a train that creates a new experience? Can it be a classroom? The idea is that we really have to take time and somehow deconstruct our minds and open up these possibilities."

Reflecting on that theme later, Mahama adds: "I'm just an artist and right now I’m using the medium of architecture, film, photography or archaeology in order to somehow redefine what art can be.” He feels this is something which comes into even sharper focus for an artist coming from the continent, “because if you are an African, one of the misconceptions has always been that whatever work you make has to be African in a way. I want to be able to create art that is inspired by infinite things - it could be inspired by earth, a piece of cloth, a building. There is something that it does to the brain in terms of how we go back and forth in understanding our reality."

Mahama has been inspired by all of those things and more. He primarily makes use of discarded items that have lost purpose – from railway seats and blueprints, to storage silos and jute sacks. It was with one of his jute sack installations – vast canvasses that have taken over entire buildings and landscapes across the globe - that the artist, at the age of 26, represented Ghana at the 2015 Venice Biennale. The sacks were originally used to move cocoa and then later for rice, millet and other grains, and are covered with the same markings that are tattooed on workers who journey to the south of the country to find employment. "The idea that you take this material and go into it at a microscopic level and at that point you can begin to unfold certain histories and look at space and form," he says. Working in tandem with workers and artists to make these pieces, both his materiality and methods speak to issues of migration and trade throughout Africa.

More recently, Mahama was commissioned by the 2019 Manchester International Festival to create the work, Parliament of Ghosts. “With the jute sacks, of course it's a public work, people see it – but Parliament of Ghosts is something that activates the space, it’s something that people use and where conversations happen. I was very much drawn to that.” Installed at Manchester’s Whitworth Gallery, the piece saw the artist transport remnants of Ghana’s railway back to the UK and create an environment from these and other colonial remnants, which mirrored the Ghanaian parliament chamber. "I like very simple gestures that go a really long way to change a landscape. The space inspired political conversations; it also inspired fun things,” he reflects. “All of the objects used within are really dense, which come with the history from the past 150 years, so there is quite a lot to deal with in terms of the aesthetics but at the same time you can ignore all of it and just use it for whatever you imagine it to be.”

Despite his international scope, Mahama still enjoys investing in Ghana the most, partly because he can complete a project here with ease. The country’s monumental National Theatre was wrapped in jute sacks in just three days, whereas a similar project on a much smaller scale in Europe took six months. “I always think in Ghana you can negotiate yourself anywhere for artistic things to happen, whereas in other contexts, there are so many rules, regulations and policies, a lot of which make it impossible for you to be able to dream a thing.”

It’s in Tamale – his home town where he still lives - where in 2019 he founded The Savannah Centre for Contemporary Art, an independent exhibition, research and residency hub. Parliament of Ghosts will be permanently relocated here alongside the classrooms he has fashioned from aeroplanes because, as the artist says, “the inspiration that comes from it is different from when you sit in a four cornered room.” The bright and airy, multi-purpose brick building – designed by Mahama - can best be described as a modern-day colosseum that he hopes will inspire the next generation of thinkers. “We can do screenings there, or build other platforms and use it for exhibitions, or we can use it as a mosque,” he enthuses of its many possible configurations and uses.

One of the most striking things about Mahama though, is how humble he is - often saying “we” rather than “I” – which reflects the importance he places on collaboration. Wise beyond his 33 years, community and purpose are crucial to each stage of his work. “The idea is that all of us can come together, irrespective of background, to create something,” he reflects. “We have to think about the future from a collective stance. The time we live in is the time for action.”

Read our 2019 interview with Ibrahim Mahama here.

Visit Ibrahim Mahama
Visit The Savannah Centre for Contemporary Art (SCCA)
Visit Design Indaba

Published on 04/05/2020