Kunsthalle Wien unveils Zilijifa, the first solo exhibition in Austria by Ghanaian artist Ibrahim Mahama, running from July 9 to November 2, 2025. This ambitious showcase introduces a new body of commissioned work that delves into the material and historical legacies of Ghana’s colonial past, focusing on the country’s railway network established under British rule in the 1890s. Through sculpture, photography, video, and installations, Mahama transforms relics of industrialization and labor into profound reflections on colonialism, post-colonialism, and the human cost of economic extraction. Produced at Redclay, one of Mahama’s artist-led institutions in Tamale, Ghana, the exhibition is a testament to his commitment to preserving overlooked histories and fostering community engagement through art.
A Linguistic and Material Journey
The exhibition’s title, Zilijifa, is a poetic play on words rooted in Dagbani, a Gur language spoken in northern Ghana. Mahama weaves together terms like ziliji (train), zi-ra (the act of carrying), zili (load), zim (blood), and jifa (carcass) to evoke the physical and metaphorical burdens carried through history. This linguistic layering sets the tone for an exhibition that explores transportation, labor, and the enduring scars of colonial infrastructure.
At the heart of Zilijifa is Mahama’s fascination with the Ghanaian railway, a colonial project designed to extract resources like timber, bauxite, and cocoa for export to Europe. The railway reshaped Ghana’s economy, creating villages and trading hubs while stripping the land of its natural wealth. Mahama’s works repurpose remnants of this infrastructure—rusted train bodies, scrap metal, and headpans—to confront the fragility and weight of this history.
The Physical Impossibility of Debt in the Mind of Something Living
The centerpiece of the exhibition, The Physical Impossibility of Debt in the Mind of Something Living (2025), is a striking installation featuring a German-built diesel locomotive from the 1980s and 1990s, suspended off the ground and bisecting the gallery space. Acquired from scrap metal dealers, the locomotive is a hollowed-out relic, its panels stripped and rusted, embodying the decay of Ghana’s railway system post-independence. Mahama reflects on the material paradox of steel: “The trains are made of steel, and the Gold Coast was near the sea, so the trains have rusted over time… It’s a heavy material, so fragile when kept near water.” Unlike the cast-iron railway lines that could endure for centuries, the train bodies are ephemeral, dissolving within decades.
The locomotive is supported by thousands of enamelled iron headpans, ubiquitous vessels used in Ghana for carrying goods. These chipped and dented pans, collected through exchanges with communities in Tamale and Accra, stand in for the railway tracks, drawing a poignant parallel between the mechanical and human labor that fueled colonial trade. Empty and stacked in columns, the headpans underscore absence—a void where resources and labor once flowed. The title, a nod to Damien Hirst’s iconic work, reframes the “debt” of colonial exploitation as an enduring psychological and material burden.
If Beale Street Could Talk & A Dialogue
Mahama’s exploration of labor extends to the human body in If Beale Street Could Talk (2025), a series of photographs featuring community members, many of whom are Kayayees—head porters who carry goods in headpans for a living. Framed with scrap metal from the railway, the images are set against colonial and post-independence trains preserved at Redclay. The photographs capture the memory embedded in these objects, particularly the labor of extraction. Referencing James Baldwin’s 1974 novel, the work connects the struggles of Ghanaian workers to broader narratives of sacrifice and oppression.
Complementing this is A Dialogue (2025), a video installation filmed in markets in Accra and Tamale. The piece features interviews with women who traded their worn headpans with Mahama, sharing stories of their pans’ histories and uses. Their voices, filled with humor and reflection, humanize the objects and highlight the resilience of communities navigating economic precarity.
Go Tell It on the Mountain
In Go Tell It on the Mountain (2025), Mahama confronts the physical toll of labor through 125 X-ray images displayed in light boxes crafted from scrap metal. The X-rays reveal spinal deformations in Kayayees caused by years of carrying heavy loads. Mahama equates the railway to “a spine on the earth,” drawing a visceral connection between the infrastructure of colonial extraction and the human body. He estimates that a Kayayee bears the equivalent of “200 locomotives” over a decade, a staggering metaphor for the weight of labor. The work’s title, drawn from Baldwin’s 1953 novel, invokes themes of liberation and justice, linking Ghanaian labor to global struggles for freedom.
Just Above My Head
The five-channel video installation Just Above My Head (2025) offers a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of Zilijifa. Documenting the collection of headpans and locomotives in markets across northern Ghana, the work captures the labor-intensive process of transporting and installing these materials at Redclay. Scenes of welding, sorting, and community engagement reveal Mahama’s studio as a “political ground” where history, art, and education converge. Redclay, one of three artist-led spaces Mahama founded in Tamale, serves as a studio, study center, and open-access museum, welcoming schoolchildren and locals to engage with Ghana’s material history.
Mahama’s decision to build Redclay in Tamale, far from the global art world’s centers, reflects his commitment to community. “An artist studio is not a factory,” he says. “It’s a space where the artist is constantly reflecting… Can we share that production system with the world around us?” By demystifying art and history, Mahama hopes to inspire future generations to reimagine their world.
A Global Artist with Local Roots
Born in 1987 in Tamale, Ibrahim Mahama has gained international acclaim for his material-driven practice. His work has been featured at prestigious venues like the Venice Biennale (2015, 2019), Documenta 14 (2017), and the Sharjah Biennial 15 (2023). In Tamale, he has established the Savannah Centre for Contemporary Art (2019), Redclay (2020), and Nkrumah Volini, transforming his hometown into a hub for artistic and cultural exchange. As the recipient of the inaugural Sam Gilliam Award from the Dia Art Foundation, Mahama continues to push boundaries, blending art with social impact.
Limited Edition Print
To support Kunsthalle Wien’s programming, Mahama has created a limited edition print, Quiet as It’s Kept (2025), featuring an image from If Beale Street Could Talk. Available in an edition of 50 signed and numbered digital prints, it offers collectors a chance to own a piece of this historic exhibition.
A Must-See Exhibition
Zilijifa is a powerful meditation on the intersections of history, labor, and materiality. Mahama’s ability to transform rusted relics into poignant narratives makes this exhibition a compelling exploration of Ghana’s colonial legacy and its enduring impact. Visitors to Kunsthalle Wien are invited to walk through the dark passage beneath the suspended locomotive, to listen to the voices of Kayayees, and to witness the resilience of a community reclaiming its history. This is not just an exhibition—it’s a call to reflect on the weight we all carry.
For more information, visit Kunsthalle Wien or contact info@kunsthallewien.at. The exhibition runs until November 2, 2025.
