TRANSFER(S)

On occasion of the 375th anniversary of the Peace of Westphalia, the internationally renowned artist Ibrahim Mahama (b. Tamale, Ghana, 1987; lives and works in Accra, Kumasi, and Tamale, Ghana) delves into the history of the city of Osnabrück as a center of the production of and trade in textiles, especially linen. Linen was not only sold as a raw material, but also used to manufacture apparel for forced laborers on plantations in the West Indies. And it served as a medium of exchange for prisoners from the coastal regions of the African continent. Mahama’s research and exhibition project analyzes these intricate cycles of transfer connecting Central Europe and Western Africa that were installed in the shadow of colonialism. The Ghanaian artist wrapped the former Galeria Kaufhof department store building in downtown Osnabrück in handwoven cotton fabrics and recycled jute bags: zooming out from local history and the experiences of war and the postwar period, Mahama’s intervention embeds them in the context of global trade relations and power structures. The publication documents the installation TRANSFER(S), which was on public view in Osnabrück, as well as the project’s second part, a symposium held in Tamale, Ghana. With writings by Akosua Adomako Ampofo, Bernard Akoi-Jackson, Isaac Gyasi, Thorsten Heese, Priscilla Kennedy, Bettina Klein, Koliko, Kwasi Ohene-Ayeh, Zohra Opoku and The Revival, Gabriel Schimmeroth, kąrî’kạchä seid’ōu, Klaus Weber, and the artist.