Artist and Founder, Savannah Center for Contemporary Art
Ibrahim Mahama lives and works between Accra and Tamale in Ghana.
After completing his studies in painting and sculpture at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi in 2013, he developed a practice grounded in material and history, where jute sacks, wood, paper and everyday objects become vessels for the unseen narratives of labor, migration and exchange that define our global condition.
Mahama explores how the scars of crisis and failure settle onto surfaces, transforming matter into an archive of collective experience and a tool for social regeneration. Textiles and architecture occupy a central role in his work, carrying the marks of time, place and use, and bearing the possibility of renewed futures. Collaboration is fundamental to Mahama’s practice, involving artisans, architects, technicians, traders and many others in the processes of collecting, reworking and installing his materials.
In 2019, he founded the Savannah Center for Contemporary Art in Tamale, followed in 2020 by Red Clay, a vast studio complex with exhibition and research facilities, and in 2021 by Nkrumah Volini, a renovated grain silo and educational space. Through these institutions, he has contributed significantly to the growth of the contemporary art scene in Ghana.
Mahama’s work has been exhibited internationally at venues including Kunsthalle Wien; Kunsthalle Bern; Fruitmarket,
Edinburgh; Palazzo Diedo, Venice; the Barbican Center, London; the Pompidou Center, Paris; Documenta 14, the Venice Biennale, the 35th Bienal de São Paulo, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, among others.
In recognition of the global resonance of his socially engaged practice, he was named the 2020 Principal Prince Claus Laureate. He was also artistic director of the 2023 Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts, recipient of the 2024 Sam Gilliam Award and the Gold Award in the Established Artist category at the inaugural Art Basel Awards in 2025. He was granted a diplomatic passport by the Republic of Ghana in 2025 for his cultural contributions.
His work is held in numerous public collections worldwide. He is represented by APALAZZOGALLERY and White Cube.
