Photo credit Nii Odzenma
Ep.227 Zohra Opoku examines the politics of personal identity formation through historical, cultural, and socio-economic influences, particularly in the context of contemporary Ghana. Opoku’s explorations have primarily been expressed through her photography, which she translates into screen printing. This process has led to a collage art practice that combines hand-stitched embroidery on various pre-dyed natural fabrics. She also incorporates references from West African brass-making traditions into her work, which can be experienced as applications on the textile pieces or as sculptures themselves.
While her work relays social commentary and broadly relevant themes around the human experience, each of Zohra’s explorations is intimately rooted in personal identity politics. She repeatedly integrates family heirlooms and her own self-image into her visual observations of Ghana’s cultural memory.
In 2023, she is among the artists exhibited in the 15th edition of Sharjah Biennale ‘Thinking Historically in the Present’ (United Arab Emirates), as Black Rock Sénégal Alumni at 14th edition of DAK’ART ‘Forger/Out Of Fire’ in 2022 and at 7th Athens Biennale ‘Eclipse’(Greece) 2021.
She has exhibited internationally such as the Brooklyn Museum (NYC), The Museum for Photography (Chicago), The Cleveland Museum of Art, High Museum of Art (Atlanta), Kunsthaus Hamburg, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Musée de l’Ethnographie (Bordeaux), Guggenheim Museum (Bilbao), Kunsthal Rotterdam, Archaeological Museum of Mykonos, Southbank Centre / Hayward Gallery (London), TATE London, SAVVY Contemporary (Berlin), Palais Populaire (Berlin), National Museum Nairobi, CCA Lagos, Nubuke Foundation (Accra) and RAW Material Company (Dakar).
Her work is collected by renowned institutions such as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles; CCS Bard College Hessel Museum of Art, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY; The Royal Museum of Ontario Toronto, Ontario; The Faurschou Foundation, Copenhagen, Denmark; TATE Modern, London, United Kingdom; The Onassis Collection, Athens, Greece and The Centre Pompidou, Paris, France.
Zohra Opoku is born 1976 in Altdöbern (former GDR/ East Germany), lives and works in Accra/ Ghana and is represented by Mariane Ibrahim Gallery Chicago / Paris / Mexico City.
Artist https://www.zohraopoku.com/
Mariane Ibrahim Gallery https://marianeibrahim.com/artists/33-zohra-opoku/
Berlin Art Institute https://berlinartinstitute.com/visit-to-zohra-opoku-at-suite-berlin-and-mariane-ibrahim/
deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum https://thetrustees.org/exhibit/platform-33-zohra-opoku-self-portraits/
Interior Design https://interiordesign.net/designwire/10-questions-with-textile-artist-zohra-opoku/
Financial Times https://www.ft.com/content/2d916c9b-fafe-457e-8d21-0b6763430668
C& https://contemporaryand.com/magazines/zohra-opoku-empowering-children-of-color-to-love-themselves/
The Art Newspaper https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2024/09/10/four-galleries-and-four-artists-team-up-on-collaborative-project-suite-berlin
Aperture https://aperture.org/editorial/zohra-opokus-evocative-reflections-on-mortality-and-resilience/
NYTimes https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/14/arts/design/african-royalty-tate-modern.html
The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2021/nov/01/laced-cut-mix-review-new-art-exchange-nottingham
‘I am Great of Magic, with the knife that came forth from Seth. My feet belong to me forever. I am present in glory and I am mighty through this Eye that raised up my heart after weariness. One transfigured in heaven, mighty on earth, I have flown as a falcon.’
[Extract from Chapter 149: Conclusion of the papyrus/ An Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead/ The Papyrus of Sobekmose]
203.2 x 185.4 cm, Screenprint on linen, screenprint applications, embroidery, hand stitched, 2021
Courtesy of Mariane Ibrahim Gallery
‘I have seen the secret sacred places. I was guided to the hidden sacred places, likewise, she allows me to have seen the birth of the great god who clothed me in his ba.’
[Extract from Chapter 75: Spell for ‘Going to Heliopolis (and) taking a seat there’/ An Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead/ The Papyrus of Sobekmose]
76 x 60 x 15 cm, Brass Sculpture, 2022
Photo Aurélien Mole
‘I am one who goes forth prospering, whose name is not known. I am yesterday. The one who sees millions of years is my name.’
[Extract from Chapter 42: Spell for ‘warding off slaughter in Herakleopolis’/ An Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead/ The Papyrus of Sobekmose]
59.5 x 54 x 6cm , Screenprint on velvet, brass tears applications, 2023
Photo Aurélien Mole Courtesy of Mariane Ibrahim
‘Maat is in my belly with the turquoise (and) faience of its monthly festival. This field of mine is lapis lazuli in his festival. I am the Nun who makes the darkness shine bright. I have made the akh my-demons fall. Those who were in the darkness worship me. I have made the mourners stand whose faces were hidden (and) who were weary.’
[Extract from Chapter 80: mention of the power to bring on sunlight and darkness/ An Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead/ The Papyrus of Sobekmose]
160x176cm, Indigo dyed linen & screenprint, screenprint applications, embroidery, hand stitched, 2021
Courtesy of Mariane Ibrahim Gallery
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