At the Fondation Cartier, Ghanaian artist Ibrahim Mahama serves up works specifically designed for the space, as well as new versions of some of his most iconic installations, including Parliament of Ghosts. First conceived in 2017, Parliament of Ghosts takes the form of a government chamber furnished with traditional Asante wooden stools. Symbolizing “reverse restitution,” by reinserting African craft into a colonial European museum setting, the installation also holds specific cultural meaning. “Emptied of its representatives, this ‘ghost’ parliament also acts as a metaphor for a failed democracy, an allusion to the 1966 coup in Ghana and the dissolution of the government.” Mahama and the Fondation Cartier will reanimate the setting with talks and performances, making it come alive with new life and energy throughout the exhibition’s run.

Also as part of The Harvest Season, Mahama will present a monumental site-specific architectural feat entitled Things Fall Apart. In recent years, the artist acquired a former Ghanaian glass factory, which opened in 1966 as a major decentralization project by the country’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah; Mahama took it apart, moved its components to Tamale, and reconstructs it for the exhibition, reactivating it “as an artwork and a place of learning, transferring Ghana’s industrial heritage to a narrative of the future.” Finally, Mahama will create a textile installation for the arcades on the Fondation Cartier’s facade; it will be visible from the Place du Palais-Royal.