Ghanaian artist Ibrahim Mahama wins $75,000 Sam Gilliam Award in NY

Mahama, celebrated for his large-scale textile and found-object installations, will receive cash prize of $75,000. Additionally, he will be prominently featured in a public program at Dia scheduled for this autumn, the Art Newspaper reports.

“I was first introduced to Gilliam’s important work as a student by my mentor, Kąrî'kạchä Seid'ou, and it has been greatly influential on me ever since. The most important aspect of any community is to share their many gifts, even if they are born out of precarity, for within that point do we expand freedom for all life forms,” Mahama is quoted.

Mahama was chosen by a panel of five individuals, which comprised Gilliam's widow and head of his foundation, Annie Gawlak; Courtney J. Martin, the director of the Yale Center for British Art and other notable personalities.

“Mahama champions collaboration in his work, and, just like he gives renewed purpose to the materials he collects and recycles into artworks, he revitalises his communities, turning castoff structures into institutions for convening, learning, art making, and collective growth,” Jessica Morgan, Dia’s director, said in a statement.

Mahama's works have been showcased in major international exhibitions, including the recent Desert X AlUla in Saudi Arabia and other events like the Sharjah Biennial and the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale, as well as his contribution to the Ghanaian pavilion at the 2019 Venice Biennale.

The Dia Art Foundation introduced the Sam Gilliam Award, last year as an annual honor presented to an artist from any part of the world whose impact on the art world has been transformative. Recipients of the award receive a $75,000 prize, along with the chance to showcase their work through a public program organized by Dia.