Period
2019 - ongoing
Proposed by
Visible Team
Location
Tamale, Ghana
About the project
Founded by artist Ibrahim Mahama in 2019 in the northern Ghanaian city of Tamale, the Savannah Centre for Contemporary Art (SCCA) is an artist-run project space, exhibition and research hub, cultural repository, and residency. Conceived as both an artistic and social infrastructure, SCCA Tamale redefines what an art institution can be in a context often lacking such spaces.
Initially envisioned as Mahama’s studio, SCCA Tamale has evolved into a vibrant cultural institution dedicated to expanding the visibility of Ghanaian and international art, while creating access to contemporary practices in a region that has been historically excluded from major art circuits. The centre hosts exhibitions, residencies, and educational programmes that encourage public engagement and foster community participation across generations.
Grounded in ideas of intellectual and economic emancipation, SCCA Tamale positions art education as a tool for social transformation, extending beyond artistic disciplines to include ecology, architecture, and history. Its architecture, repurposed from industrial sites, reflects the project’s ethos of reclamation and collective labour.
Today, SCCA operates across three sites in Tamale, each engaging local communities through exhibitions, workshops, and cultural events. The initiative has become a model of how investing in art and culture can stimulate civic pride and social change, demonstrating the transformative power of art in economically challenged regions.
External links
About the artist
Ibrahim Mahama, born in 1987 in Tamale, Ghana, is an artist renowned for his large-scale architectural interventions that involve draping buildings with jute sacks, symbolizing global trade and the post-colonial economic landscape. His collaborative process involves stitching these sacks into a patchwork, reflecting the material's historical significance. Mahama's work addresses themes of global trade, labor, economic inequality, and the socio-political impacts of colonialism in Africa. Notably, he was the youngest artist to participate in the first Ghana Pavilion at the 58th Venice Biennale in 2019. Additionally, he founded the Savannah Centre for Contemporary Art and the Red Clay studio complex in Tamale.
