Ibrahim Mahama’s Paris Exhibition Reimagines Ghana’s Future

Ghanaian artist Ibrahim Mahama has turned the Fondation Cartier in Paris into a showcase for Ghana’s past and potential. The exhibition opens with his Parliament of Ghosts installation, which looks at the 1966 coup that crushed Ghana’s post-independence hopes and at older empires broken by colonialism. Yet the exhibition aims to rebuild rather than mourn. One centerpiece recreates an abandoned bottle factory he bought in 2024, using rusted steel beams and crates of bottles to evoke West African manufacturing and commerce after independence. Other works combine industrial materials with local pottery and traditional building methods. The exhibition also highlights artists supported by Mahama’s art centers near Tamale. A standout contribution comes from the Congolese Plantation Workers Art League, whose chocolate sculptures address colonial land confiscation and global trade. The show’s central argument is that collective action, community, and cultural reclamation can help shape a more hopeful future.