Ibrahim Mahama in Skopje

The Museum of Contemporary Art – Skopje presents a major solo exhibition by world renowned artist Ibrahim Mahama from 15 October through 14 November 2025.

A special preview of the public art work will be held on the 14th of October at 18:00, offering the public an opportunity to meet the renowned artist Ibrahim Mahama.

Mahama’s work, which encompasses the entirety of the main volume of the Museum building’s modernist facade, spanning more than 1100 m2, will present the Ghanaian artist’s first exhibition in the country. The textile surface, comprised of over 1000 jute bags that wrap the building as a double skin, are used daily for the transport of goods, primarily in the economies of the Global South, bearing traces and histories of labor and exchange, referencing themes such as globalisation and migration, exploitation and economic inequalitieс. By stitching the jute sacks together and installing them over the architectural volume of the museum building, the work examines how personal narratives are embedded in matter, and how architecture can function as a political mirror.

Founded in 1964, MoCA – Skopje was established as a platform for artistic exchange, cultural collaboration and international support. Built from donations following the catastrophic earthquake in 1963 in Skopje, it stands as a lasting testament to the principle of solidarity, as a venue for reflecting the promise of a better society.

Mahama’s intervention renews the founding ethos of the Museum, affirming art’s role in society and its potential to reflect acts of human compassion in various spatial and historical contexts. The Museum’s building, the ideal of solidarity interwoven within it, and the installation that embraces its physicality become equal counterparts in voicing and thereby also confronting the various forms of exploitation and inequality that persist to this day worldwide. Thus, the work of Mahama, has the potential to establish brotherly connections of solidarity, in opposition to the dominant global power relationships and oppressive geo-political dynamics.

Аbout the artist

Ibrahim Mahama was born in 1987 in Tamale, Ghana. He lives and works in Accra, Kumasi and Tamale. Selected solo exhibitions include the Barbican Centre, London (2024); Kunsthalle Osnabrück, Germany (2023); Oude Kerk, Amsterdam (2022); Frac Pays de la Loire (2022); The High Line, New York (2021); University of Michigan Museum of Art (2020); etc. He has participated in numerous group exhibitions including Lagos Biennial 4th edition, Lagos (2024); Malta Biennale, Malta and Gozo (2024), Sharjah Biennial 15 (2023); 18th International Venice Architecture Biennale (2023); the 35th Bienal de São Paulo (2023); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (2021); Centre Pompidou, Paris (2020); 22nd Biennale of Sydney (2020); Ghana Pavilion, 58th Venice Biennale (2019); Documenta 14, Athens and Kassel (2017); Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen and Holbæk (2016); 56th Venice Biennale (2015); etc.

Beyond his artistic practice, Mahama actively strives to redefine the role of art in society. He founded the Savannah Centre for Contemporary Art and Red Clay Studio, both institutions dedicated to education, experimentation, and community-led art practice in northern Ghana. In 2023, Mahama was also appointed Artistic Director of the 35th Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana.

Support

The exhibition is realised by the Museum of Contemporary Art – Skopje, with financial and in-kind support from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Reitman Foundation, Eurolink insurance, Zavar, Rade Koncar, the Faculty of Civil Engineering, and Wikiexpedition. 

Friends of MSU – Skopje: Whitecube Gallery, Palazzo Gallery, Tikveš.