Ghameli

On the facade of La Galerie 38 in Marrakech is a colourful six-meter-high wooden installation by Ghizlane Agzenaï . ‘ The Portal’, as the self-taught Moroccan artist calls it, leads visitors into the gallery’s exhibition space in the Moroccan city for Agzenaï’s solo show Dimension 2112: The Station. Ghizlane Agzenaï' stands in front of ' The Portal,' at La Galerie 38 Marrakech. Image courtesy La Galerie 38 and the artist. The exhibition opened on 5 February as part of Gallery Night, an exploration of selected galleries and art spaces in the Gueliz neighbourhood, an initiative by the organisers of 1-54 Marrakech 2026.   “I am really happy that we got to do the opening during 1-54 because for me personally, it’s like an annual rendezvous to meet artists, to meet people from the art world that maybe we can’t meet every day in Morocco,” Agzenaï told Wallpaper* after a tour of the exhibition. “It’s a fair that has really grown over the years in a very, very positive way. We wa...

  In early April, artist Ibrahim Mahama drove for more than an hour from Tamale, in the north of Ghana, to the town of Kumbungu to present a lecture to pupils of the Zugu Dabogni AME Zion Primary School in the Northern Region. In tow – alongside some of Mahama’s colleagues and myself – was the classically trained singer Kokui Selormey, who was due to lead an interactive music workshop for the pupils. It was the first time Mahama had delivered his lecture, titled ‘The Quagrey Effect and the Precarious Gift’, in Dagbani, a language spoken by people in the country’s Northern Region. The talk covered topics including his beginnings, inspirations, challenges, how he sourced materials for his artworks and collaborative working practices. The school’s headmaster thanked Mahama for bringing the world closer to them. ‘They are part of the world, but we have to learn to bridge the gap,’ the artist responded. That statement speaks to a key element of Mahama’s ethos: making art accessible to e...

When   El Anatsui's   biggest-ever indoor   art   piece was unveiled in October at   London’s   Tate Modern , it was emblematic of how he continues to inspire   African artists . As the renowned Ghanaian artist Ibrahim Mahama wrote on   Instagram , the 79-year-old fellow Ghanaian   sculptor   and 2023   Time   100 honouree “paved the way for a generation of artists like myself and many others”. Titled  Behind the Red Moon  (until April 14, 2024), the site-specific installation is a Hyundai Turbine Hall commission curated by Osei Bonsu and Dina Akhmadeeva, Tate Modern’s  curator  of international art and assistant curator of international art, respectively. The founder of the  Accra  and London-based Gallery 1957, Marwan Zakhem, told STIR that he was “incredibly moved” to see the Tate opening, adding that he “couldn’t be prouder” of its significance and how it adds to “all real moments of contempora...

In 2021, Harmonie Bataka left her job in the banking industry to follow her love of skateboarding. Before the decision, she had an active interest in the field but was not practicing full time due to the demands that came with work, and other responsibilities. Years later, she is now a skateboarder, teaching other women and girls as a skateboarding tutor with the  Skate Gal Club , amongst other endeavours including modelling.    Bataka’s journey is one of several young people in the growing surfing and skateboarding space in Ghana due to the efforts of the  Surf Ghana  collective, which, per its     website , “uses the practice of extreme sports as a driver for diversity in education, social inclusion, and empowerment of the youth while curating events and sporting experiences provided by specialized instructors.”   The non-profit organization was founded in 2016 by Sandy Alibo, who was inspired by her passion for skating and her experience suppor...