Art Basel unveils major commission by Ibrahim Mahama

At Münsterplatz, Basel, 2025 Art Basel Awards winner Ibrahim Mahama presents a major new public commission, titled The God of Small Things (2026).

Referencing the 1997 novel by Indian writer Arundhati Roy, this sculptural and spatial installation reflects on memory, material and the traces left by colonial and post-independence industrial pasts.

Conceived as a series of large suspended forms, the work incorporates rubber as its primary material – a substance whose production is historically linked to the colonial period – alongside jute sacks, metal identification tags from Ghana Cocoa Trading Companies and other industrial remnants.

Maike Cruse, director of the fair, has said, ‘From major new public commissions by Nairy Baghramian and Ibrahim Mahama to Ruba Katrib’s first edition as curator of Unlimited and the expansion of Premiere, this edition reflects both the enduring strength of the field and the exciting directions it is taking next, reinforcing Basel’s role as the global reference point for the art market.’

Learn more about White Cube in Basel 2026.