Theresah Ankomah’s artistic practice reclaims traditional artisanal knowledge not as static heritage but as a dynamic, hereditary practice and communal language. Repurposing is a central theme in Ankomah’s work; it invokes a constant dialogue that is translated both in her paintings and immersive installations. Her utilization of the kenaf to produce onion baskets, once essential items in Ghana’s markets, draws attention to the geopolitical landscape where traditional craftsmanship is overshadowed by the influx of mass-produced goods.
Central to her recent installations is the use of dyed palm leaves – sourced from Dabala in Ghana’s Volta Region – and she collaborates closely with families skilled in the treatment and dyeing of the material. These collaborations are vital to her process, not only for their technical contribution but for the embedded wisdom they carry. Through such intergenerational exchanges, Ankomah reframes weaving as both a material and political act, interrogating the place of “craft” within narratives of trade, geopolitics, and capitalism. Suspended in space like draped cloth or architectural skin, her woven installations transform domestic forms into monumental gestures. The palm leaf – humble and abundant – becomes a vessel for ancestral memory, slow labor, and collective identity. At once sculptural and performative, these works unsettle the hierarchies that have long separated fine art from craft.
In the installation What Do You See (2025) at Cicillo Matarazzo Pavilion, strips of woven palm leaves cascade across the building’s modernist facade, referencing both protective cloth and ephemeral boundary. Dyed in shades reminiscent of soil and sun, each strand bears the marks of hands – those of the artist and her collaborators in Dabala. Their labor gestures toward a wider ecology, one in which art, nature, and community are intimately entwined. Taking the notion of fragments – or “debris” – as a conceptual starting point, Ankomah presents a sculptural installation that addresses the commodification and fragmentation of goods and bodies under post-colonial regimes and their lingering effects that still find echo into our
contemporary times.
