Ghanaian Tycoon Ibrahim Mahama Breaks New Ground as Africa’s Art World Powerhouse

Ghanaian creative Ibrahim Mahama has made history as the first African to claim the top spot on ArtReview magazine’s annual ranking of the art world’s most influential figures. Known for transforming found objects, including textile remnants, into compelling works, Mahama emerged at the pinnacle of the list, which highlights the contemporary art scene’s most powerful individuals and institutions as determined by a global panel of judges.

Speaking to The Guardian, Mahama described the recognition as “humbling,” recalling that he first learned of the power list while studying at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in 2011, when Chinese dissident Ai Weiwei held the top position. He reflected, “To be included in this conversation, especially coming from a country like Ghana, which for so long seemed invisible in global art discourse, is profoundly humbling.”

Based in Tamale in northern Ghana, Mahama expressed hope that his achievement would inspire emerging artists in his homeland, showing them that they are integral to contemporary artistic dialogue rather than mere bystanders.

ArtReview’s editor-in-chief, Mark Rappolt, emphasized that Mahama’s rise signals a shift in the art world’s power dynamics. “It reflects a broader realignment in global influence and finance,” he explained. “The art ecosystem has never existed in isolation from these forces. Historically, the MENA region has served as a bridge between East and West.”

The magazine’s top ten also spotlights several artists and curators from Africa and the Middle East. Qatari powerhouse Sheikha Al-Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani ranks second, thanks in part to her formidable acquisition capabilities. Last year’s number one, Sheikha Hoor al-Qasimi of the Sharjah Art Foundation, now sits third, while Egyptian artist Wael Shawky claims the fourth spot. Singapore’s Ho Tzu Nyen is fifth, followed by American talents Amy Sherald (6), Kerry James Marshall (7), and Saidiya Hartman (8). UK-based collective Forensic Architecture ranks ninth, with German photographer Wolfgang Tillmans completing the top ten.

Mahama’s recent years have been marked by prolific activity. Represented by renowned galleries including Apalazzo and White Cube, his practice repurposes discarded materials—from old hospital beds to decommissioned train carriages—into striking art installations.

In 2024, his exhibition Songs About Roses at Edinburgh’s Fruitmarket Gallery, which explored the rise and decline of Ghana’s colonial-era railway (1898–1923), was lauded as “as extraordinary as a magical realist novel.” The Guardian’s Jonathan Jones praised the show for confronting the ghosts of history, positioning Mahama alongside leading contemporary figures such as William Kentridge and Anselm Kiefer.

Earlier, he had transformed the Barbican with 2,000 square meters of vibrant pink fabric, painstakingly stitched together on a Ghanaian football pitch to accommodate its scale. In 2019, Mahama inaugurated the Savannah Centre for Contemporary Art in Tamale—a 900-square-meter hub functioning as a gallery, library, studio, residency, and archive space.

Rappolt noted that many top-ranked artists actively nurture their local communities. “Mahama embodies a model of the artist as a community participant rather than a solitary genius producing flashes of brilliance,” he observed.

The annual power list, now in its 24th year, is compiled by thirty anonymous experts from across the globe.

Source: Araba Sey