Ibrahim Mahama
Visual artist
Location: Tamale (Ghana)
Ibrahim Mahama was born in 1987 in Tamale, a city in northern Ghana where he lives and works. He studied painting and sculpture at Kwame Nkurumah University in Kumasi under the guidance of his professor and mentor karî’kachä seid’ou, and earned a master’s degree in painting and sculpture in 2013.During university,he started to work on installations that reflect themes of globalization, labor, and the movement of goods, with works made in collaboration with local communities.
Venice Biennale.
He has participated in numerous public exhibitions including Documenta XIV, the Venice Biennale 2015, 2017, and 2019, the year the Ghanaian pavilion is established. Mahama received the Pino Pascali Award, from the Pino Pascali Foundation, and the Prince Claus Award, from the Dutch administration, an award that aims to support artists active in culture and social development, especially in challenging environments.
SCCA.
In 2019 Mahama opened the Savannah Centre for Contemporary Art (SCCA), a foundation run by a group of artists and curators active in Ghana, which was followed by the establishment of Red Clay in the suburbs of Tamale. This large facility incorporates artist studios (including his own), research spaces, an artist residency, a permanent collection of artworks, workshop rooms (some set up inside old decommissioned airplanes), and large plots of land dedicated to various types of cultivation. All of this contributes to his visionary desire to take an active part in the economic, social, and cultural development of his country, providing powerful incentives and teachings to new generations, to make the local population as participatory and economically self-sufficient as possible.
Website→ https://www.sccatamale.org/
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