Earlier this year a work by Ibrahim Mahama went on display at the Barbican. Or, more accurately, on the Barbican: Purple Hibiscus (2023–24) is a 2,000-square-metre piece of purple cloth, embroidered with more than 100 bakataris (Ghanaian tunics), that was draped over the facade of the building’s Lakeside Terrace. Mahama is known for his vast works, having made his name in 2015 with a similar piece, in which he covered the exterior of the Arsenale in Venice in thousands of jute sacks used by charcoal sellers in Ghana. The exhibition currently on at Edinburgh’s Fruitmarket is a smaller-scale affair, the artist’s first ever solo show in Scotland, which is inspired by the now defunct railway built by British colonial powers in Ghana in the 1920s. Mahama has collected materials from around the site of the railway and used them in the sculptures, drawings and films in the exhibition (until 6 October).
Find out more from the Fruitmarket Gallery’s website.
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Installation view of Ghana Mann (2023–24) by Ibrahim Mahama. Photo: Theo Christelis; courtesy the artist and White Cube; © the artist
Installation view of My Dear Comfort (2023–24) by Ibrahim Mahama. Photo: Theo Cristelis; courtesy the artist and White Cube; © the artist
24 tons of Silence (2024), Ibrahim Mahama. Courtesy the artist and White Cube; © the artist
Installation view of Kumwensia (2023–24) by Ibrahim Mahama. Photo: Theo Cristelis; courtesy the artist and White Cube; © the artist