Zohra Opoku examines the politics of personal identity formation through historical, cultural, and socio-economic influences, particularly in the context of contemporary Ghana. Opoku's explorations have primarily been expressed through her photography, which she translates into screen- printing. This process has led to a collage art practice that combines hand-stitched embroidery on various pre-dyed natural fabrics. She also incorporates references from West African brass-making traditions into her work, which can be experienced as applications on the textile pieces or as sculptures themselves.
While her work relays social commentary and broadly relevant themes around the human experience, each of Zohra's explorations is intimately rooted in personal identity politics. She repeatedly integrates family heirlooms and her own self-image into her visual observations of Ghana's cultural memory.
In 2023, she is among the artists exhibited in the 15th edition of Sharjah Biennale ‘Thinking Historically in the Present’ (United Arab Emirates), as Black Rock Sénégal Alumni at 14th edition of DAK’ART ‘Forger/Out Of Fire’ in 2022 and at 7th Athens Biennale ‘Eclipse’(Greece) 2021.
She has exhibited internationally such as the Brooklyn Museum (NYC), The Museum for Photography (Chicago), The Cleveland Museum of Art, High Museum of Art (Atlanta), Kunsthaus Hamburg, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Musée de l'Ethnographie (Bordeaux), Guggenheim Museum (Bilbao), Kunsthal Rotterdam, Archaeological Museum of Mykonos, Southbank Centre / Hayward Gallery (London), TATE London, SAVVY Contemporary (Berlin), Palais Populaire (Berlin), National Museum Nairobi, CCA Lagos, Nubuke Foundation (Accra) and RAW Material Company (Dakar).
Her work is collected by renowned institutions such as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles; CCS Bard College Hessel Museum of Art, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY; The Royal Museum of Ontario Toronto, Ontario; The Faurschou Foundation, Copenhagen, Denmark; TATE Modern, London, United Kingdom; The Onassis Collection, Athens, Greece and The Centre Pompidou, Paris, France.
Zohra Opoku is born 1976 in Altdöbern (former GDR/ East Germany), lives and works in Accra/ Ghana and is represented by Mariane Ibrahim Gallery Chicago / Paris / Mexico City.
