Zohra Opoku
Born 1976, former German Democratic Republic (GDR)
Lives and works in Accra
Born in 1976 in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR), Zohra Opoku is a German-Ghanaian artist. Her work examines how political, historical, cultural, and social contexts influence the construction of individual identities.
The artist’s parents met in 1975 at a university near Leipzig, in East Germany, as part of a student exchange program implemented by Kwame Nkrumah, the president of the newly independent Ghana, with non-aligned countries and those in the communist bloc. A few months after Zohra Opoku’s birth, her father returned to Ghana, and she was raised by her maternal family.
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Zohra Opoku, “I have opened the doors of truth. I have passed the waters of heaven. I have raised up a ladder to heaven among the gods. I am one who is with you.” 2023 © Zohra Opoku photo © Aurélien Mole, courtesy the artist and Mariane Ibrahim -
Zohra Opoku, “I have power over my heart", 2020 © Zohra Opoku photo © Nii Odzenma, courtesy the artist and Mariane Ibrahim
At the age of twenty-seven, in 2003, she met her father for the first and only time. He was now the chief of the Ghanaian village of Asato. Because of his status, their meeting was highly codified. Zohra Opoku needed to undergo a purification ritual and wear royal attire in order to meet him.
In her artistic work, Zohra Opoku reinterprets beads, ceremonial fabrics, and photographs inherited from her father. She screenprints these photographs onto antique fabrics before embroidering and assembling them. In 2011, she moved to Accra, where she became acquainted with Ibrahim Mahama. The latter invited her to use his studio, and they have collaborated on several exhibitions.
