As part of our partnership with the Barbican, we were commissioned to support Ghanaian artist, Ibrahim Mahama, in realising his vision for Purple Hibiscus, an installation that would see the Barbican’s Lakeside Terrace wrapped in 2,000sqm of hand-woven and embroidered fabric. Mahama’s work brings forward themes of community and craft from his home country, through the textiles created collaboratively with hundreds of craftspeople from Ghana. Embroidered with ‘batakaris’ robes, traditionally worn by Ghanaian kings, the fabric highlights the continued importance of intergenerational knowledge recorded through textile. Named after Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s 2003 novel, a purple hibiscus symbolises freedom and hope for oppressed people.
As a first of its kind for the Barbican, through Purple Hibiscus we were able to explore ways of activating the lakeside elevation to bring more life to this public space, learnings which continue to inform our ongoing work on the Barbican Renewal.
Process
Collaborating with Buro Happold, we developed a structural strategy; of central importance was protecting the Barbican’s iconic brutalist structure and avoiding any fixing to the listed building.
To ‘wrap’ the building a series of pattern pieces were designed to envelop the structure – much like a pattern cut for clothing. Pieces were constructed to closely fit the building form, minimising noise from the fabric flapping in the wind. Tension lines attached to roof trusses were anchored by ballasts on Lakeside Terrace; a fishing net mesh backing provided further structure to the form.
Fabric of place
The colours of the textile reflect allyship with marginalised communities in Ghana and the UK, also creating a joyful moment of contrast against the Brutalist backdrop of the Barbican. A hundred precious ‘batakaris’ robes traditionally worn by Ghanaian kings are embroidered onto the artwork as symbols of lineage and power.
The fabric was hand- woven by hundreds of craftspeople in Tamale, Ghana, and sewn into panels by women from local sewing collectives and cooperatives, drawing parallels to the workpeople and workmanship of the Barbican, the iconic concrete painstakingly hammered by hand. The pieces became so large that the artist rented the Tamale football stadium on non-game days for the women to work. The pieces were shipped to the UK and constructed on site with a team of expert riggers.
Purple Hibiscus was on view at the Barbican from April- August 2024.
