Developed since the Foundation’s inception, with a particular focus on art from West Africa, it introduces audiences to the diversity of contemporary artistic practices and helps strengthen the artists’ presence on the international art scene. 

In building the collection, we are guided by the belief that discovering art also means getting to know people, their experiences and their ways of understanding the world. We do not seek to create a single, definitive narrative about Africa. We want to make space for many voices – individual voices rooted in specific histories, yet addressing questions that matter regardless of where we come from. We value both the artistic power of the works and their ability to spark conversations, broaden perspectives and challenge simplistic perceptions. 

Artworks that tell stories 

The collection includes works by artists spanning different generations, media and experiences, among them El Anatsui, Ibrahim Mahama, Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga, Rita Mawuena Benissan, Zanele Muholi, LR Vandy, Ndidi Dike and Kwaku Yaro. Painting, photography, sculpture, textiles and works made with reclaimed materials come together in a multilayered narrative about contemporary life, memory and cultural heritage. 

One example is El Anatsui’s “Sleeping Cloth” – a wooden sculptural composition that evokes the folds and patterns of fabric, combining an experimental approach to form with the textile traditions of West Africa. In “NANDANBIA”, Ibrahim Mahama uses worn jute sacks, tarpaulin and metal, giving artistic form to traces of labour, trade and the movement of materials. In both works, the material is more than a means of expression: it becomes a carrier of history in its own right. 

Further perspectives emerge in Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga’s “Nature Morte 3”, which explores the social and environmental costs of resource extraction in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Zanele Muholi’s photograph “Self”, from the “Only Half the Picture” series, which reflects on identity, intimacy and representation. Rita Mawuena Benissan’s embroidered works, including “The Triumphant King Rules II” and “The One Who is Shaded by Tradition”, reinterpret symbols of Asante culture, bringing local craftsmanship together with the language of contemporary art. 

We want encounters with the collection to be an invitation to independent discovery. The artworks can open conversations about how we remember the past, what it means to belong, how our surroundings are changing and who tells the stories we encounter in culture. We want both experienced audiences and those just discovering contemporary art to find space within the collection for their own questions and interpretations.

Selected works from the OmenaArt Foundation Collection: