In this video, artist Ibrahim Mahama talks about his artistic practice, in which materials with traces of use play a central role. For his installations, Mahama works with old jute sacks, which are used by the local population in his home country of Ghana to transport goods and possessions. Mahama has these jute sacks sewn together into huge pieces of fabric by workers – whom he calls collaborators – who move from poorer, rural regions to the big cities of Ghana. A film gives an insight into the production and installation of these fabric strips, which Mahama uses to cover entire building complexes.
“The traces that are left on the materials have an aesthetic, but also a political and pragmatic meaning.”
— Ibrahim Mahama
