From raw material to gift: panel discussion with Osei Bonsu, Nana Biamah-Ofosu, Tessa Giblin and Fiona Bradley

Osei Bonsu (Curator of International Art at Tate) and Nana Biamah-Ofosu (Architecture, design and research practice, YAA Projects) respond to the two exhibitions of work by contemporary Ghanaian artists currently showing in Edinburgh – El Anatsui: Scottish Mission Book Depot Keta (Talbot Rice Gallery until 29.09.24)and Ibrahim Mahama: Songs about Roses (Fruitmarket until 06.10.24). Bonsu has worked closely with both artists, most significantly on Anatsui’s commission for Tate’s Turbine Hall in 2023, and with Ibrahim Mahama in 2015, when the artist first came to international prominence. In her architecture and research practice, Ghanaian-British architect, Biamah-Ofosu focuses on African modernity and its architecture and urbanism through a decolonial framework. Nana has recently been involved in exhibitions such as the V&A’s Tropical Modernism: Architecture and Independence and ongoing research exploring the architectural heritage of African communal housing typologies.

Bonsu and Biamah-Ofosu are joined by Tessa Giblin (Director, Talbot Rice Gallery and Curator of El Anatsui: Scottish Mission Book Depot Keta) and Fiona Bradley (Director, Fruitmarket and Curator of Ibrahim Mahama: Songs about Roses) to discuss the interconnections between these major exhibitions. Each exhibition includes specially commissioned work that uses reclaimed materials to foreground stories of labour, industry and exchange and work through the impact of colonialism in a post-independence Ghana.