Zohra Opoku at the Zeitz MOCAA
Zohra Opuku is a Ghanian-German artist, who has created her own personal history through textiles and photography, sculpture and printing, layers of meaning and intentional design. Zohra was born in East Germany, of a German mother and a Ghanian father, and her parents were separated by politics. Her exhibition at the Zeitz MOCAA, takes you on a journey through her German childhood, interwoven with the life of her Ghanian father, that she never got to meet.
Her work represents her life divided between two heritages, her personal world as an artist living in Akkra, Ghana, and her experience growing up in Germany. Her work is multifaceted and layered in tradition and symbolism from each culture. She is indeed the link between two very different worlds and manages to portray her connectedness and resilience to us, as we follow her footsteps on her life journey.
Her art requires you to step up and take a closer look, what appears to be a larger than life mural, is something a lot deeper… and then look again. Precious bead stories that would be hidden under outfits are revealed for us to take an even closer look.
I loved the time capsules, where we could peek into layers of her childhood, letters from her papa, and stories read by her mama…
The Zeitz MOCAA team were there to guide us through the collection…
Her childhood interest in the Ancient Egyptian art museum is reflected in her representation of her self…
Her work deserves a much closer look…
The positive and negative light, reflects her incredible journey.
