Bold claim: Ibrahim Mahama has become a trailblazer by becoming the first African to top ArtReview’s annual power list, signaling a shift in where influence and decision-making happen in the art world.
Ghanaian artist Ibrahim Mahama has earned the distinction of being the first African to be named the most influential figure in the global art sphere on ArtReview magazine’s yearly power rankings. Known for transforming found materials—such as textile remnants—into art objects, Mahama rose to the top of the list chosen by a global panel of judges who assess the contemporary art world’s most influential people and institutions.
In an interview with The Guardian, Mahama expressed humility at his top placement, noting he first learned about the power list while studying at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana in 2011, a year when Ai Weiwei topped the list. He recalled feeling honored to be recognized, especially coming from Ghana, a country that had long been perceived as marginal to global art discourse.
Based in Tamale, in Ghana’s northern region, Mahama said his achievement could inspire younger Ghanaian artists to see themselves as active participants in contemporary conversations rather than standing on the periphery.
ArtReview editor-in-chief Mark Rappolt commented that Mahama’s placement reflects a realignment of influence within the art world, suggesting that shifts in global financial power are closely tied to art’s evolving centers of gravity. He also observed that the Middle East and Africa have increasingly become bridges between East and West in the art ecosystem.
The top 10 list features several figures from the Middle East and Africa. Sheikha Al-Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, a pivotal figure in Qatar’s art scene and chair of Qatar Museums since 2006, sits second thanks to substantial purchasing power. The previous year’s leader, Sheikha Hoor al-Qasimi of the Sharjah Art Foundation in the United Arab Emirates, falls to third, with Egyptian artist Wael Shawky in fourth.
Other notable names in the top ranks include Singaporean artist Ho Tzu Nyen (fifth), American artists Amy Sherald (sixth) and Kerry James Marshall (seventh), scholar and writer Saidiya Hartman (eighth), the UK-based collective Forensic Architecture (ninth), and German photographer Wolfgang Tillmans (tenth).
Mahama has enjoyed a particularly active period. Represented by prominent galleries Apalazzo and White Cube, his practice reimagines discarded objects—from old hospital beds to derelict train carriages—into compelling artworks.
At last year’s Edinburgh Festival, his piece Songs About Roses examined the railway boom in colonial-era Ghana (1898–1923) and was described as extraordinary, comparable to the work of great magic-realist writers. Jonathan Jones of The Guardian compared Mahama’s engagement with history’s ghosts to major figures like William Kentridge and Anselm Kiefer, highlighting his rising status among today’s most important artists.
Earlier in the year, Mahama had wrapped the Barbican Center in a 2,000-square-meter expanse of bright pink fabric, sewn on a football field in Ghana due to the sheer scale of the project.
In 2019, he inaugurated the Savannah Centre for Contemporary Art in Tamale—a 900-square-meter complex that functions as an exhibition space, library, residency, archive, and studio.
Rappolt noted that many top-ranking artists run programs that engage their local communities. Mahama, he explained, embodies a model of an artist who integrates community involvement with creative practice rather than pursuing solitary, solitary genius.
The annual power ranking, now in its 24th year, is compiled by thirty anonymous experts from around the world.
Controversial takeaway: this shift underscores a broader question—should influence in the art world be recalibrated to reflect diverse regional contributions rather than privileging traditional centers? If so, what does this mean for future funding, exhibition opportunities, and what counts as “power” in contemporary art? Share your thoughts in the comments on whether you agree with Mahama’s ascent and the broader realignment described by ArtReview.
