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London 2014

  • 1-54 Forum 2014
  • Exhibitors 2014
  • Press 2014

John Goba

Born in 1944 in Mattru Jong, Sierra Leone. Lives and works in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

'Untitled', 2011, Painted wood and porcupine quills, 95 x 70 x 60 cm, Courtesy of Magnin-A 

Of Mende origin, John Goba was born into the hermetic milieu of the Sande Society (otherwise known as the Bondo Society, a women’s association largely found in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea) of which his grandmother played a significant role. Following his customary initiation – a rite of passage for the Sante people, he settled in Mountain Cut, a district in Freetown. It was here that he underwent a revelatory experience, prompting him to begin producing masks for the Ode-lay initiation rituals and masquerades that had sprung up in Freetown in the 1970s.

Evoking traditional lore and mysteries of his environment, Goba’s sculptural works reveal a composite of hybrid forms borrowed from mythical tales and personal imaginings. For Goba, porcupine quills hold particularly gravity, and often invariably protrude from the figures of his tableaux. Notably this implements a symbolic order of self-protection against deeper incursion into its subjects, tantalising the viewer with what Goba refers to as a ‘private history to which only the artist has the key’.

Selected Artists

Maiga, Hamidou

Karl Gietl

Calixte Dakpogan

Afi Nayo

Ataa Oko

Otobong Nkanga

Malick Sidibé

Owusu-Ankomah

Artists 2014

  • A

    • Aboudia
    • Afi Nayo
    • Agbodjelou, Leonce Raphael
    • Amadou Camara Gueye
    • Amahiguéré Dolo
    • Andrianomearisoa, Joël
    • Arlene Wandera
    • Armen Agop
    • Ataa Oko
  • B

    • Ba, Omar
    • Bandoma, Steve
    • Barthélemy Toguo
    • Bondo, Vitshois Mwilambwe
    • Bruce Clarke
  • C

    • Calixte Dakpogan
    • Camara, Serigne Mbaye
    • Chamekh, Nidhal
  • D

    • Daniel Blom
    • Diop, Omar Victor
    • Donkor, Godfried
    • Douglas Camp, Sokari
  • E

    • Edson Chagas
    • El Baz, Mohamed
    • EL Loko
    • Emeka Ogboh
  • F

    • Fayçal Baghriche
    • François-Xavier Gbré
    • Frédéric Bruly Bouabré
  • G

    • Gaba, Meschac
    • Gakunga, Naomi Wanjiku
    • Gary Stephens
    • Glover, Ablade
    • Gresham Tapiwa Nyaude
    • Guerresi, Maïmouna
  • H

    • Hajjaj, Hassan
    • Halter, Dan
    • Harandane Dicko
    • Hazoumè, Romuald
    • Hervé Yamguen
  • I

    • Ibrahim Mahama
  • J

    • James Muriuki
    • John Goba
    • John Liebenberg
    • John Murray
    • Joseph-Francis Sumegné
  • K

    • Kamwathi, Peterson
    • Karl Gietl
    • Karo Akpokiere
    • Klos, Yashua
    • Koko Robert Bi, Jems
    • Konaté, Abdoulaye
    • Kossentini, Nicène
    • Kure, Marcia
  • L

    • Lemaoana, Lawrence
  • M

    • Mabunda, Gonçalo
    • Maiga, Hamidou
    • Malick Sidibé
    • Maluka, Mustafa
    • Mancoba, Ernest
    • Megumi Matsubara
    • Melvin Edwards
    • Michéa, Vincent
    • Mika, JP
    • Miriam Syowia Kyambi
    • Monteiro, Fabrice
    • Moschetti, Jean-Claude
    • Musekiwa, Terrence
  • N

    • Ndiaye, Cheikh
    • Nestor Da
    • Nxumalo, Musa N.
    • Nzebo, Boris
  • O

    • Ogunbanwo, Lakin
    • Okhai Ojeikere, J.D.
    • Okore, Nnenna
    • Okpu-Egbe, Adjani
    • Onditi, Paul
    • Otobong Nkanga
    • Owusu-Ankomah
  • P

    • Paul Sika
    • Pinto, Mauro
    • Platter, Cameron
  • Q

    • Quenum, Gérard
  • R

    • Rafik El Kamel
    • Ricardo Rangel
    • Richard Butler-Bowdon
    • Roger Ballen
    • Ruga, Athi-Patra
  • S

    • Samba, Chéri
    • Sammy Baloji
    • Sandile Zulu
    • Sanogo, Amadou
    • Shomali, Kura
    • Sinzogan, Julien
    • Soudan, Gor
    • Stanley, Ransome
  • T

    • Takadiwa, Moffat
    • Terjuman, Houda
    • Tshindele, Pathy
    • Tugbiyele, Adejoke
  • V

    • Van Hove, Eric
    • Virginia Ryan
  • W

    • Watts, Ouattara
    • Wayne Barker
    • Wycliffe Mundopa
  • X

    • Xiomara De Oliver
  • Y

    • Younès Baba-Ali
    • Younès Rahmoun
  • Z

    • Zangewa, Billie

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