In a landmark moment for the global art scene, Ghanaian artist Ibrahim Mahama has been named the most influential figure in the art world for 2024 by ArtReview magazine. This historic achievement marks the first time an African artist has topped the prestigious annual Power 100 ranking.
A Humble Pioneer from Ghana
Mahama, who is based in Tamale in northern Ghana, told The Guardian he felt "humbled" by the recognition. He first learned of the list in 2011 while studying at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, the year Chinese artist Ai Weiwei held the number one spot. "For me to be part of this, especially coming from a place like Ghana, which for many years was almost as if we were not even part of the discourse, is quite humbling," Mahama said.
He expressed hope that his success would inspire younger Ghanaian artists to see themselves as central to contemporary art, not peripheral to it. His practice is renowned for transforming found materials into powerful installations. These have included:
- Textile remnants and jute sacks.
- Discarded train carriages and old hospital beds.
- Large-scale architectural interventions using fabric.
Shifting Centres of Power
ArtReview's editor-in-chief, Mark Rappolt, stated that Mahama's position at the summit signals a realignment of power and influence within the art world. "I think you could also look at that as saying there's a realignment of where global finance sits … The MENA region has historically always been a bridge between east and west," Rappolt noted, highlighting that the art world is not separate from broader geopolitical and economic shifts.
The 2024 list's top ten strongly reflects this global reorientation, featuring several prominent figures from the Middle East and Africa:
- Ibrahim Mahama (Artist, Ghana)
- Sheikha Al-Mayassa bint Hamad Al-Thani (Chair, Qatar Museums)
- Sheikha Hoor al-Qasimi (President, Sharjah Art Foundation)
- Wael Shawky (Artist, Egypt)
- Ho Tzu Nyen (Artist, Singapore)
The remainder of the top ten includes Americans Amy Sherald, Kerry James Marshall, and Saidiya Hartman, the UK-based research group Forensic Architecture, and German artist Wolfgang Tillmans.
Community and Monumental Works
Rappolt emphasised that many top-ranked artists, including Mahama, are deeply engaged with their local communities. "He's not acting as this classic idea of the sole artist producing his own flashes of genius, but also as a person who's part of a community," Rappolt said. This ethos is embodied in Mahama's Savannah Centre for Contemporary Art in Tamale, a 900-square-metre complex he opened in 2019 that serves as a gallery, archive, library, and studio space.
Mahama has had an intensely productive period. In 2023, he draped the Barbican Centre in London with 2,000 square metres of bright pink fabric, sewn together on a football pitch in Ghana due to its vast size. His installation Songs About Roses at the 2023 Edinburgh Festival, examining the colonial history of Ghana's railways, was praised by The Guardian's Jonathan Jones as being "as extraordinary as a great magic-realist novel." Jones placed Mahama among the most important artists working today, alongside figures like William Kentridge and Anselm Kiefer.
The Power 100 list, now in its 24th year, is compiled by a panel of thirty anonymous experts from across the world, cementing its status as a key barometer of influence in contemporary art.
