isaac nana opoku
Influenced by weaving and indigenously produced fabrics, Nana is exploring the impact of colonial heritage on contemporary artisanal culture and textile production. Nana’s practice aims to ‘decolonise imagination’ by investigating alternative ways of being and challenging established paradigms. They represented Ghana for the Venice Biennale in 2022.
During their Contested Desires residency in Rome in early 2025, they researched the colonial collections at the Museo della Civiltà. In response to this experience, they are creating a large-scale textile containing handwritten reflections and sketches that capture moments of insight, discomfort and revelation. The interconnected squares act as encrypted vessels of meaning: mirroring how traditional African textiles encoded messages, histories and cultural knowledge within their designs.
Nana will be joining six other Contested Desires artists for a residency at D6, Newcastle and group exhibition at the Great North Museum: Hancock this July.
Find out more about Contested Desires here.
During their Contested Desires residency in Rome in early 2025, they researched the colonial collections at the Museo della Civiltà. In response to this experience, they are creating a large-scale textile containing handwritten reflections and sketches that capture moments of insight, discomfort and revelation. The interconnected squares act as encrypted vessels of meaning: mirroring how traditional African textiles encoded messages, histories and cultural knowledge within their designs.
Nana will be joining six other Contested Desires artists for a residency at D6, Newcastle and group exhibition at the Great North Museum: Hancock this July.
Find out more about Contested Desires here.
