The Brooklyn Rail

Ibrahim Mahama (b. 1987) knows a thing or two about repurposing objects. A SPELL OF GOOD THINGS, the Ghanaian artist’s first solo exhibition at White Cube New York, blends concepts of physical labor and postcolonialism, moving away from the jute sack installations that mark his earlier work and instead showcasing items Mahama salvaged from the former Gold Coast Railway system and Northern Ghana’s Tamale Teaching Hospital. Most of these materials were abandoned during the period of institutional decline that marked Ghanaian history after the more prosperous 1960s and 1970s, also a time during which newly independent West African countries were paving the way forward after British colonial rule.

Postcolonialism is a central theme tying the works together, and Mahama’s charcoal drawings—examining the colonial extraction of resources like timber and manganese, and how it led to the forced movement of the Ghanaian people—are particularly intriguing. His country, Mahama notes, failed to adequately support its constituents, which is where the relics that underscore the perils of lost potential come in. Enne Ye Anigye Da (2023–24), a charcoal drawing superimposed on an archival map, depicts five men bearing the load of heavy materials, buckling under the weight of a railroad tie, as a city map is laid out behind them and a rusted train stands below; in the foreground of the composition is a collaged photograph of other laborers helping to build the railway in the hot sun. Owusu se M’amma (2023–24), or The Driver’s Lament, shows the physical labor of Ghanaian men in a more ambiguous fashion—faces partially covered from the audience’s view, the train below nearly hidden, as dozens of bodies help to move the vehicle forward. Here, too, the corresponding map is intricate and precise, shedding light on the routes of Ghana. Abena (2023–24) is yet another standout work from the second-floor presentation of the artist’s large-scale drawings. In this work, the male subjects are front and center; there is no visible train, and the laborers—exclusively visible in profile—stand together to build, or perhaps repair, the railroad tracks. Through Mahama’s eyes, we observe the renewal sweeping the country: the displacement of the people and commodities of Ghana.

Institutional deterioration and repair lay the foundation of the exhibition. A SPELL OF GOOD THINGS, named after contemporary writer Ayòbámi Adébáyò’s novel which examines the systemic issues plaguing postcolonial Nigeria, offers its own take on Ghanaian politics and infrastructure. While drawings occupy much of White Cube’s second floor, the ground floor of the exhibition showcases objects pulled directly from the Gold Coast Railway system and the Tamale Teaching Hospital: parts of deserted train cars, broken down hospital beds, and other relics of people who have mysteriously disappeared. Ceremonial in nature, the artist posits: Where have these people and places gone? And what led to their demise—and ultimately, their recovery?

The artist conducted much of his research in 2023, when he worked directly with Ghana’s Railway Development Ministry to rescue train carriages, tracks, and other industrial parts that would have otherwise been scrapped. Transporting these historical relics by truck, Mahama converted many to artworks and usable spaces such as studios and classrooms for his RedClay Studio in Tamale, a cultural hub the artist founded in 2020. These works complement the second-floor charcoal drawings, focusing more on the materials and mediums. The outcome is a dialogue tying together physicality and materiality with wider sociopolitical themes.

Speaking of politics, the viewer would be remiss not to observe the dilapidated beds from Tamale Teaching Hospital that occupy the same part of the gallery as the defunct train carriages; many of these beds are covered with makeshift leather sheets—sourced from the same abandoned train cars mentioned above—and inscribed with the names of patients who died at the hospital, as well as those who found themselves displaced due to postcolonialist instability. As the texts accompanying the exhibition note: the hospital, which began as a training facility in the 1970s, served as the main hospital in Northern Ghana until unexpected resource shortages led to a series of preventable deaths, including the death of the artist’s own brother. These material and spatial design decisions are especially poignant because they visualize for us the fragmenting and scarring the people of Ghana.

To that end, A SPELL OF GOOD THINGS reopens old wounds such that Ghanaians can peel back their metaphorical skins and recover from the shortcomings of history. Comparing the collapse of infrastructure to the loss of life, Mahama’s work begs the viewer to build courage and imagine a better path forward.