Ghana wins and the star is Mahama, By Jibrin Ibrahim

Again to the star, Ibrahim Mahama, he stands out as an artist who has a narrative to inform, however above all as somebody who desires to make the younger era to suppose deeply. He’s a disruptor who challenges typical narratives via his impactful installations. Born in Tamale in 1987, Mahama obtained levels in High-quality Artwork in 2010, and in 2013, from the Kwame Nkrumah College of Science and Know-how. Mahama’s distinctive creative method blends purposeful interpretation with spontaneous actions.

The star shouldn’t be John Dramani Mahama, who has simply been sworn in because the President of Ghana, even when he too is a winner. The star is Ibrahim Mahama, no relation of John, a spectacular younger artist we found in Tamale, northern Ghana. If Mungo Park found the River Niger, then we will declare we travelled all the way in which from Nigeria to Tamale and found Mahama. Charmaine Pereira, Siddique Abubakar Mohammed, Massoud Omar and I’ve simply spent three weeks travelling 1000’s of kilometres in Ghana, utilizing business transport in motor parks and going via Tema, Accra, Kumasi, Tamale, Bolgatanga and ending on the Pikworo Slave Camp in Paga on the border with Burkina Faso. A few of us had made the same journey round West Africa within the early Eighties, going via Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal, Gambia, Sierra Leone and Liberia, the place threats by the military frightened us into dashing to Nigeria Airways and getting a flight again to Nigeria. However that’s one other story which we instructed to the Triumph newspaper at the moment.

The overwhelming angle of Ghanaians is delight of their African tradition and membership of the Black race, coupled with an understanding of the evils of colonialism, due to the Nkrumah legacy. Again to the star, Ibrahim Mahama, he stands out as an artist who has a narrative to inform, however above all as somebody who desires to make the younger era to suppose deeply. He’s a disruptor who challenges typical narratives via his impactful installations. Born in Tamale in 1987, Mahama obtained levels in High-quality Artwork in 2010, and in 2013, from the Kwame Nkrumah College of Science and Know-how. Mahama’s distinctive creative method blends purposeful interpretation with spontaneous actions. His artistic journey usually begins with a deep connection to a selected object or materials, emphasising the absence of predetermined ideas. As an alternative, he initiates his creative course of by keenly observing and increasing upon parts that seize his curiosity. Partaking in city explorations, he collects various objects, preserves and persistently revisits them over prolonged durations.

Mahama’s tells the epic journey of the common-or-garden jute bag for instance. Born in India or Bangladesh, the bag has the precise objective of transporting cocoa from the farm to the Tema port, the place the cocoa is transferred to containers, and since by legislation the bag can’t be used to move cocoa twice, it re-enters use to hold cereals to markets. The ultimate tragic act of the jute bag, throughout its previous age, is to move charcoal, the produce of environmental degradation, as Ghana burns down its forests. The story is instructed via his large-scale installations crafted from jute sacks, symbolising world change and the disparity between items and other people. He transforms these sacks into large patchwork quilts, draping them over famend constructions worldwide.

There’s a completely loopy set up with a whole bunch of previous stitching machines linked to a pedal that produces eerie noises, reminding you of spirits; and please don’t ask me how that’s artwork. Mahama is clearly a really commercially profitable artist on the worldwide stage, however he’s investing thousands and thousands of {dollars} at Purple Clay in Tamale in 2020 for the youth to come back, see, surprise and replicate free of charge.

He has different mega installations – one with 4,000 shoe shine packing containers, many unique from all around the world and a few he produced with all types of messages and decorations. There may be one other the place the thing is the smock, the Ghanaian woven cotton nationwide costume, which is right this moment starved of Ghanaian produced cotton. The northern area produced the labour that constructed the railways to move cocoa however the railways have been by no means prolonged to the north, so he has an set up with actual previous railway engines and coaches, for younger northerners to see and replicate on. There’s a completely loopy set up with a whole bunch of previous stitching machines linked to a pedal that produces eerie noises, reminding you of spirits; and please don’t ask me how that’s artwork. Mahama is clearly a really commercially profitable artist on the worldwide stage, however he’s investing thousands and thousands of {dollars} at Purple Clay in Tamale in 2020 for the youth to come back, see, surprise and replicate free of charge.

As we travelled round Ghana, what was hanging was the political consensus of why the New Patriotic Occasion (NPP) regime failed within the not too long ago concluded elections. It was punished for 2 issues – large corruption and one of the vital extreme price of residing disaster within the nation’s historical past. The important thing message is that the NPP misplaced as a result of its core voters refused to vote for it. Mahama’s Nationwide Democratic Congress (NDC) didn’t considerably enhance its votes. The NPP votes collapsed, as its voters deserted it. This can be a nice lesson in civic engagement. The deepening of democracy ought to result in voters sanctioning their occasion when it performs poorly. For the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Nigeria, can it severely proceed to suppose that it could possibly win the following elections with the huge price of residing disaster it’s imposing on Nigerians and its complete lack of empathy for the struggling lots. 

The star attraction in Ghana was a go to to the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park and Mausoleum, the ultimate resting place of Ghana’s first president and Africanist hero. The park has a museum that hosts uncommon artefacts regarding Ghana’s independence and excursions on the park give guests in-depth historical past of the nation’s wrestle for independence. The mausoleum designed by Don Arthur homes the mortal stays of Dr Kwame Nkrumah and his spouse, Fathia Nkrumah. It’s meant to signify an upside-down sword, which within the Akan tradition is an emblem of peace. The mausoleum is clad from prime to backside in Italian marble, with a black star at its apex to symbolise unity. The museum, alternatively, accommodates the private belongings of Nkrumah. These embody the books he wrote, his {photograph} archives and official pictures. A photograph assortment options footage of Nkrumah with a number of famend leaders of his time. A few of them are: Pope Pius XII, Queen Elizabeth II and President John Kennedy of the USA, simply to say a number of. The go to is a poignant reminder of the malicious position performed by imperialism to make sure that the liberty Africans struggled for can be pissed off.

The Pikworo Slave camp in Paga, Higher East area is one other poignant web site price visiting. It was based in 1704 and was lively till 1845 as a part of the route for taking slaves from the Sahel all the way in which to Cape Coast, as a part of the transatlantic slave commerce. Newly captured slaves have been auctioned there, earlier than participating within the trek to the Salaga slave market from the place they have been taken to the coast for export. The camp is assumed scary as a result of a lot of the slave tradition is carved into the rocks…

The opposite must-see Centre in Accra is a fancy of 4 main buildings, which embody the house the place Dr DuBois spent his final years, an Administrative constructing, the Marcus Garvey Visitor Home and the tomb of Dr DuBois and his pricey spouse, Shirley Graham DuBois. There may be an Open-Air Theatre straight behind the DuBois residence in a pastoral setting. Guests can readily perceive why the “Father of Pan Africanism” loved the peace of his final residence working to supply extra data in his nineties. The Library, which incorporates Dr DuBois’ Private library and a set of works associated to Dr DuBois and Pan Africanism, is a uncommon assortment price cherishing.

It’s within the palace of the Asantehene in Kumasi, not too long ago transformed right into a museum, that one sees most clearly the aim of colonialism. The British knew that pure gold sources within the dense forests of southern Ghana introduced wealth and affect to the Asante folks and wished to loot it. The independence of the Asante resulted in 1874 when a British expeditionary power marched into Kumasi in retaliation for an Asante assault on El Mina two years earlier. The British ransacked the palace of the Asantehene, Kofi Karikari, and imposed an indemnity of fifty,000 ounces of gold, a part of which the Asante managed to pay by handing over gold beads and different labored jewelry. The Palace historian instructed us that the British even insisted that the Asante ought to hand over the golden stool, which was handed all the way down to their ancestors straight from heaven, and so they needed to manufacture a pretend one to fulfill British greed.

The Pikworo Slave camp in Paga, Higher East area is one other poignant web site price visiting. It was based in 1704 and was lively till 1845 as a part of the route for taking slaves from the Sahel all the way in which to Cape Coast, as a part of the transatlantic slave commerce. Newly captured slaves have been auctioned there, earlier than participating within the trek to the Salaga slave market from the place they have been taken to the coast for export. The camp is assumed scary as a result of a lot of the slave tradition is carved into the rocks – the grinding mill for getting ready meals, the consuming plates and water supply. There are additionally torture rocks round which slave have been tied and punished/killed for making an attempt to flee. As well as, the stone coated graves of so lots of the slaves are very seen. Ghana has invested significantly in recording, documenting, archiving and growing museums, websites and mental areas, reminding the world in regards to the travails of Africans and Blacks. Go to Ghana and revive your dedication to Pan-Africanism.

A professor of Political Science and growth marketing consultant/professional, Jibrin Ibrahim is a Senior Fellow of the Centre for Democracy and Improvement, and Chair of the Editorial Board of PREMIUM TIMES.