Ljubljana Biennale to Connect Ghana and Yugoslavia
Led by artist Ibrahim Mahama, the festival's 35th edition returns to venues across the Slovenian capital from September.
Nabil Djedouani, From the earth to the moon—Boubaker Adjali (1977). Restored film still. Courtesy the artist.
Over 30 artists will take part in the Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts this year, titled From the void came the gifts of the cosmos.
Eight locations across the city will host events from 15 September 2023 to 14 January 2024.
The show is directed by Ghanaian artist Ibrahim Mahama, who is best known for draping entire buildings with a patchwork of repurposed jute cocoa sacks.
'From the void came gifts of the cosmos has led us to find ways in which we can go back in time,' said Mahama. He said the exhibition will ask, 'how do we use historical and other forms to establish new dialogues?'
Mahama's approach to the Biennial explores commonalities and connections between the former Yugoslavia and post-independence Ghana under pan-African theorist and president Kwame Nkrumah.
Nkrumah's vision for Ghana's first republic was realised through collaborations between engineers, architects, designers and urban planners in Ghana and then-Yugoslavia.
In the same way, the Biennale will explore printmaking and contemporary art that transcends borders.
New commissions include Sonia Kacem's Hotel Hodnik (2023) installation, highlighting the history of the former hotel—now the International Centre of Graphic Arts—as a trans-geographical crossroads, and Janek Simon and Max Cegielski's investigation of Polish sculptor Alina Slesinska, who created a monument to Kwame Nkrumah in Winneba in the 1960s.
New film commissions by Hamedine Kane, and Nolan Oswald Dennis respond to the legacies of USSR trained film-makers in Senegal and Tanzania, while Nabil Djedouani delves into secret histories of dissent in There is no End (2023), dedicated to Algerian anti-colonial resistance figures, Mohamed Boudia (1932–1973) and Boubaker Adjali (1939–2007).
Another highlight is Estonian artist Jaanus Samma's hand-woven rug inspired by Estonian wedding gift traditions. The work accompanies similar rugs made for the Biennale's sister projects—the Kaunas Biennial in Lithuania and Survival Kit 14 in Latvia. —[O]
