Ibrahim Mahama - Garden of Scars | Oude Kerk, Amsterdam

Commissioned by the Oude Kerk, Ghanaian Artist Ibrahim Mahama developed the new large-scale site-specific installation Garden of Scars for over two years. This commission connects the echoes of history of the Oude Kerk together with the memory of spaces in an international context. Utilising mediums of drawing, sculpture, film and sound, Mahama created a new, space-filling installation especially for Amsterdam’s oldest building.

Scattered through the building are hundreds of sculptures, many composed of casts Mahama made from the gravestones in the Oude Kerk, as well as the structures of the coastal forts and castles of Ghana. The fractures, scratches and cracks in the sculptures depict a history of trauma, fracture and repair.

Garden of Scars touches upon the social and cultural consequences of global trade and migration. Through this exhibition, Mahama highlights the connected histories of the merchants, captains, mayors buried in the Oude Kerk, with the colonial history of the ancient Dutch forts along Ghanaian coast; where people suffered the consequences of colonial trade in Africa. Fort Elmina, for instance, initially served the gold trade and later played an important role in the development of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. Mahama aims to make this shared history visible, connecting global networks to both places and timelines up to the present day.