Ibrahim Mahama examines history and material memory in Paris

Ibrahim Mahama, the Ghanaian artist represented by White Cube, reflects on a deceptively simple yet profound proposition: to move forward, we must sometimes journey backward. His new exhibition ‘The Harvest Season’ at Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain in Paris embodies this philosophy, drawing together site specific installations and fresh iterations of his most celebrated works in a meditation on how material histories can illuminate future possibilities.

Mahama’s practice has long centred on the lives embedded within objects and the labour crystallised in their making. He works with discarded textiles, worn fabrics and reclaimed materials, transforming them into monumental installations that demand contemplation. Each piece carries the accumulated weight of use, of hands, of time. His interest in collective exchange and shared knowledge shapes how these works are conceived and realised, turning the studio into a site of dialogue rather than solitary creation.

‘The Harvest Season’ speaks to this ongoing exploration. Rather than presenting finished thoughts, the exhibition unfolds as a series of conversations with history itself. The works ask what we might learn from examining the residues of the past, what stories materials can tell when we listen closely enough. This is not nostalgia but rather an urgent engagement with how previous ways of making, thinking and gathering might reshape contemporary practice.

Presented across the carefully considered spaces of Fondation Cartier, the exhibition will remain on view until 28 February 2027. For those drawn to Mahama’s uncompromising interrogation of material culture and his generative approach to collective practice, the Paris presentation offers an essential encounter with one of the most significant artistic voices working today.

Imagery courtesy of White Cube (@whitecube).