Ibrahim Mahama, who lives and works in Accra, Kumasi and Tamale, Ghana, has exhibited at leading international venues such as the Venice Biennale, Sydney Biennale, Saatchi Gallery in London and K21 in Düsseldorf. His work explores themes of values, international trade, migration and the consequences of colonialism. He often works with found objects, transforming them and giving them new meanings.

The artist is represented by one of the world's leading galleries, White Cube in London, and Mahama dedicates the profits from his art practice to the establishment and support of cultural and educational institutions in Ghana. Through his work, Mahama develops ways to keep contemporary African art on the continent.

Mahama's interest has long been focused on Ghana's post-independence infrastructure from 1957, particularly the buildings created under Nkrumah's socialist programme, which sought to make Ghana self-sufficient. This infrastructure was subsequently abandoned altogether. The influence of architects from the former Yugoslavia on the construction of institutional buildings during this period is particularly significant. Ibrahim Mahama takes the artistic direction of the Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts as a challenge and an opportunity to explore this part of history and to revive some of the lost moments or tangled connections that once existed between Ghana and Yugoslavia.