From Shadows to Light: Public Art and Collective Memory

Ibrahim Mahama’s Parliament of Ghosts (2023) commands attention in the atrium of Fondation Cartier, built from salvaged train parts and worn wooden school desks. This installation reflects Ghana’s colonial infrastructure. Mahama, known for large-scale works that interrogate historical and economic systems, frames the piece as "a conversation about the remnants that shape us." Visitors share interpretations, while the weathered materials narrate migration, trade, and education stories.

This reciprocity illustrates public art's potential. Across Accra and Tamale, Mahama has transformed ordinary spaces into memory sites. The repurposed grain silos of SCCA Tamale and Red Clay Studios now host workshops and exhibitions. "Art outside institutional walls," Mahama stated in an interview with ART AFRICA in 2022, "allows communities to reclaim their narratives in ways museums often cannot."

Public art often exists in tension with its surroundings. Its permanence raises questions of ownership and responsibility. A 2019 installation by Nigerian artist Victor Ehikhamenor for the Venice Biennale, The Biography of the Forgotten, explored personal and collective memory through a labyrinth of threads and bronzes. While temporary, the work left a lasting impact on participating communities, bringing stories of Nigeria’s Benin Bronzes into fresh focus.

In Lagos, the Eko Atlantic district has become an arena for this dialogue. Privately funded sculptures range from abstract forms by emerging Nigerian artists to neon-lit installations by international names. Critics highlight the contrast between curated spaces and the informal settlements displaced by Eko Atlantic's construction. "Who does public art ultimately serve?" asks historian and curator Bolanle Austen-Peters. "When it erases, even as it creates, it risks becoming complicit in the histories it seeks to critique."

Community-driven initiatives offer an alternative model. In 2021, a collective in Makoko, Lagos’s floating slum, collaborated with architect Kunlé Adeyemi to create Makoko Floating School II. This structure serves as both a classroom and an art installation, built from local materials designed to withstand flooding. "It’s not art in the traditional sense," says collective member Funmilayo Adekoya, "but it’s a symbol—of resilience, of remembering where we come from."

The interplay between history, community, and physical space is not new to African art. In 1986, sculptor El Anatsui began creating intricate wall hangings from discarded metal and wood. These works command global attention while retaining local significance: the bottle caps speak to Ghana’s breweries; the wood to Nigeria’s forests. Anatsui’s work contrasts with the site-specificity of public art, highlighting the tension between the local and the universal.

Mahama's Parliament of Ghosts offers one resolution. At Fondation Cartier—and earlier iterations in Ghana—the installation merges localized histories with universal themes of dislocation and reconstruction. "The ghost," Mahama notes, "is not just a relic; it’s a guide to imagining the future." The chairs, though absent of their original occupants, suggest a gathering—one where past voices might still shape tomorrow’s decisions.

This forward-looking perspective is crucial for urban spaces. In 2023, Kigali commissioned murals depicting Rwandan cultural heritage, from traditional dances to pre-colonial trade routes. Painted across public schools and market walls, these images were created in collaboration with local youth. "It’s a living archive," explains artist Aimée Uwizeye, who coordinated the project. The murals invite viewers to reflect on Rwanda’s past and participate in its ongoing story.

The rise of participatory public art across Africa signals a shift in how historical narratives are preserved and projected. Yet challenges remain. Access to funding for projects outside major urban centres is precarious. The line between representation and commodification poses questions: how does public art amplify rather than appropriate community voices?

These questions will persist as public art evolves. Its capacity to transform spaces and stories is clear. As Mahama's work at Fondation Cartier demonstrates, art in public spaces is not merely decoration—it’s a dialogue, a disruption, and a way forward.