From 21 September to 18 November 2026 | Piazza Municipio
From 21 September to 18 November 2026, Voyageur, the new public art intervention by Ibrahim Mahama, curated by Vincenzo Trione, arrives in Naples, in Piazza Municipio
For Piazza Municipio, Mahama – one of the leading figures of international contemporary art – has conceived a new monumental work made up of three boats, built specially for the occasion: three large wooden vessels, about 5, 7 and 8 metres high, built according to traditional Ghanaian models and techniques.
Placed at the centre of the recently restored square, overlooking the port of Naples, the three vessels connect West Africa and the Mediterranean, evoking some of the central themes of the artist's research: migration, the circulation of goods, labour, exchanges between cultures and the transformation of communities.
The presence of Mahama's three vessels in the square overlooking the port takes on a multiple meaning, reaffirming the direct link with the sea understood as a place of travel, encounter, hospitality and peace.
Values to be shared and promoted.
Voyageur is the second event of Napoli Contemporanea 2026, after Robert Crumb's exhibition, Cattivi Pensieri, hosted from the end of May to August at Castel Nuovo – Maschio Angioino.
Napoli Contemporanea 2026 is the programme of exhibitions and installations launched in 2023 to strengthen the city's vocation for the contemporary through projects designed for the public spaces and symbolic places of Naples, backed by Mayor Gaetano Manfredi and curated by Vincenzo Trione, the Mayor's adviser for contemporary art and museum activities.
The project is promoted and funded by the Municipality of Naples as part of Napoli Contemporanea, with organisation and communication by Bam Arte.
Thanks to the Academy of Fine Arts of Naples.
BIOGRAPHY OF THE ARTIST
Ibrahim Mahama (born in 1987 in Tamale, Ghana) is one of the most influential voices in contemporary art and the first African artist to reach first place in ArtReview's Power 100 ranking.
His research focuses on monumental, site-specific installations made with materials linked to labour and trade – jute sacks, timber and industrial waste – through which he explores global economies, colonial histories and the circulation of goods and people.
He lives and works between Accra and Tamale and is the founder of the Savannah Centre for Contemporary Art (SCCA), the Red Clay Studio and Nkrumah Volini.
Mahama has exhibited internationally, including at Documenta 14, the Venice Biennale and the Centre Pompidou, and a solo exhibition at the Fondation Cartier in Paris is planned for 2026.
He has received the Prince Claus Award (2020), the Sam Gilliam Award (2024) and the Gold Award at the first edition of the Art Basel Awards (2025).
His works are in the collections of major public institutions around the world and he is represented by APALAZZOGALLERY and White Cube.
THE NAPOLI CONTEMPORANEA PROGRAMME
Voyageur is the second chapter of the *programme Napoli Contemporanea 2026***, after Robert Crumb's exhibition Cattivi Pensieri, hosted from April to August at the Palatine Chapel, the Chapel of the Souls in Purgatory and the archaeological area of Castel Nuovo.
**Over the years the programme has seen projects and interventions by some of the leading figures of Italian and international contemporary art.
**
From the major exhibitions Elysian Fields by Jim Dine (2025) and Napoli metafisica by Mimmo Jodice (2025), to the urban installations Silent Hortense by Jaume Plensa (2025), OH! by Marcello Jori (2025), Tu si 'na cosa grande by Gaetano Pesce (2024), Io contengo moltitudini by Marinella Senatore (2024), Venere degli stracci by Michelangelo Pistoletto (2023) and Questi miei fantasmi by Antonio Marras (2023).
To these are added the projects for MetaPan, the Museum in the Metaverse, created by Chiara Passa, Davide Quayola, Auriea Harvey and Bianco-Valente in 2024, and the work Lacrime di coccodrillo conceived by Francesco Vezzoli for the Prisons of Castel Nuovo in 2023.
Piazza Municipio