IBA Stage: 35th Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts – Ibrahim Mahama

Ibrahim Mahama: Photo by Urška Boljkovac. MGLC Archive.

IBA Stage: 35th Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts
December 11, 2023 (Monday)
3:00 pm (Ljubljana/GMT+1)

Joining us for our last IBA Stage of 2023 is Ibrahim Mahama to present his vision for From the void came gifts of the cosmos, the 35th Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts which opened on September 9th and will run until December 14th.

His project, developed in conjunction with the curatorial team, reflects on anti-colonial / anti-imperial struggles by placing a focus on built environment, infrastructural traces and material legacy exposing the deep history of nationalisms which is still very much present in all corners of the world.

Ibrahim Mahama, visual artist, was born in 1987 in Tamale, Ghana. He lives and works in Accra, Kumasi and Tamale. His work has appeared in numerous international exhibitions, including the Venice Biennale, the Biennale of Sydney, Saatchi Gallery in London, K21 in Dusseldorf, the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum in Michigan, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art in Israel and many others.

Mahama’s best-known works involve draping entire buildings with a patchwork of reused jute sacks. He repurposes cocoa sacks that he finds in local markets in Ghana. He shows his worksin Ghanaian markets as well as galleries. Through his choice of exhibition spaces, his workscritically reflect on the value system inherent to these materials.

Represented by one of the world’s leading international galleries, White Cube (London /HongKong) and Apalazzo Gallery in Brescia Italy. Mahama uses proceeds from his art practice to initiate and support cultural and educational institutions in Ghana. He is creating ways to keepcontemporary African art on the continent. In 2019, he opened the artist-run project spaceSavannah Centre for Contemporary Art (SCCA Tamale) in Tamale. Later, he opened a vaststudio complex, RedClay, in nearby JannaKpeŋŋ in 2020. Both sites represent Mahama’scontribution to developing and expanding the contemporary art scene in his home country, encompassing exhibition space, research facilities, and an artist-residency hub. In 2021, Mahama transformed an abandoned silo in Tamale into the Nkrumah Voli-ni, a public spacethat combines ecological with artistic forms.

As always IBA Stage events are meant as a moment to hear about a project through its makers and have the opportunity to participate in a Q&A session at the end of the presentation.

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