A Tale of Time and Purple Republic (2013–2022) and other works

Overview

Ibrahim Mahama’s work grapples with themes of migration, globalisation, economic exchange and colonialism. His large-scale installations surface narratives of capitalism, global trade, crisis and injustice in materials reclaimed from the built environment of his native Ghana.
In a Tale of Time and Purple Republic (2013–2022), the artist brings together different production systems into a single work, which combines hand woven traditional fabric with a large loom. Historically passed on from one generation to another, the textiles are stained with the residues of traditional practices, which leave traces of the relationships between the bodies, who originally manufactured them.
The installation in Al Dhaid comprises Sunshine Day (2022) and Shine a Light (2022), an assemblage of found objects, including abandoned desks, reclaimed commode chairs, handwritten textbooks and other school furniture combined with Polaroid pictures of institutional buildings in Ghana. Together, the objects create a timeline of a country and its people, claiming the right to their independence from the British coloniser—a journey that came to an end 65 years ago.