On Tuesday 30 May, the artist Ibrahim Mahama will talk about his work in the Friedenssaal in Osnabrück’s city hall. In a lecture and an artist talk. In summer 2023, the Kunsthalle Osnabrück will present an exhibition of the artist’s work. The exhibition is being created to mark the 30th anniversary of the Kunsthalle Osnabrück and 375 years of the Peace of Westphalia. The exhibition is the wrapping of a building in Osnabrück. With his lecture, Ibrahim Mahama introduces himself to the people of Osnabrück for the first time.
The title of the lecture is FROM THE VOID CAME THE GIFT OF THE COSMOS. The lecture for Osnabrück is about emptiness. The void is seen as a space of possibilities. There are also many voids in the art world. For example, there are too few places where artists can work or be trained. That is why it is part of Ibrahim Mahama’s artistic work to found new project spaces. For example: SCCA Tamale, Red Clay and Nkrumah Voli-Ni in Ghana. Artists find new forms of art in these project spaces.
FROM THE VOID CAME THE GIFT OF THE COSMOS is also the theme of the 35th Ljubljana Biennial of Graphic Arts. Mahama is its artistic director this year. The Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts is a graphic arts exhibition. It takes place every 2 years. In his lecture, Ibrahim Mahama will also talk about his plans for the Biennale. Because, the Biennale also explores similar questions: What happens when we fail? What are the chances and possibilities?
Stefan Lüddemann is the moderator of the event. He is the head of the Culture and Knowledge thematic area of NOZ Medien. After the talk, the artist will answer questions from the audience. The conversation will be held in English. The question section that follows will be translated into German.
The exhibition TRANSFER(S) by Ibrahim Mahama is funded by the TURN2 Fund of the Kulturstiftung des Bundes (German Federal Cultural Foundation). Funded by the Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien (Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media). With the support of Kulturhauptstadt Europas (European Capital of Culture) Chemnitz 2025. The project is supported by Koch International Heinrich Koch Internationale Spedition GmbH & Co KG.
