London

Zohra Opoku
Born in 1976 in Altdöbern, Germany. Lives and works in Accra, Ghana
Zohra Opoku employs a variety media such as installation, photography and video to explore the cultural and psychological functions of fashion, and its influence on society. Her socially-engaged practice takes root in investigating materiality in relation to African histories and identities. Opoku’s explorations often manifest as sculptural works that, at times, are embedded within an urban infrastructure. A striking example of this is THE BILLBOARDPROJECT (2014–2015), as a series of large-scale installations comprising secondhand garments woven together in arrangements. Strung up on empty billboard structures in and around central Accra, the project interfaces the ubiquitous importing of unwanted, secondhand clothing into Africa, as a direct line of enquiry into its effects on identity formation and social status. Her works have been installed in urban environments, and included in exhibitions across Africa and Europe, such as the itinerant Making Africa: A Continent of Contemporary Design (across 2015–2016 at Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein in Germany in 2015; Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Spain; and Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB) in Spain).
Zohra Opoku, Ficus Carica, 2015, Screen-print on textile, edition of 2, 79 x105 cm / 31 x 41,3 in, Courtesy of Mariane Ibrahim Gallery