'We Proceed in the Footsteps of the Sunlight'

Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA) has opened 'We Proceed in the Footsteps of the Sunlight', the solo exhibition of Ghanaian-German artist Zohra Opoku. The exhibition details Opoku’s artistic trajectory over the last ten years, with a culmination of pieces from several major bodies of work to represent her dynamic, multidisciplinary practice. Having trained in fashion design, the artist offers a materially diverse visual language to focus upon both personal history and cultural inheritance. The exhibition is co-curated by Dr Phokeng Setai and Beata America.

 

 

Opoku's layered exploration of identity, memory, geographies and time is anchored by three recurring tenets in the show: Water, Breath, and Ground. Simultaneously, the artist's array of work looks to bridge the cultures which have defined movement across her life - having been born in what was then East Germany, she has since relocated to Accra, Ghana, where she now resides and practices. On this, she shared, "‘The transition from being based in Germany to being in Ghana and bringing those two worlds together in a conversation—whether through material, handcraft, or memory—is important. It allows others to relate to the work, especially within the diaspora, where people have similar experiences."

 

 

We had the chance to hear Dr Phokeng Setai's insight into the exhibition, and got a deeper look into the collaboration and preparation that went into the creation of Opoku's monumental show:

 

"The process of working on this exhibition fully began in January of this year. My co-curator, Beata America and I, took a trip to Accra, Ghana to conduct a week-long studio visit with the artist in her home city and country. It's been an intriguing journey with a lot of twists and turns. I've personally learnt a lot about the work and practice of an artist whose practice I've admired for years before working closely with her for this exhibition. It's been a pleasantly eye-opening experience working closely with Beata America, who is a tremendously professional and exceptional curator with a big future ahead of her."

 

“Working with Zohra has been wonderful. She is a deeply caring, kind and generous person and these qualities shone through in our working process together. As an artist, she is very clear in her intentions and that was great assistance to us. She is led by her intuition and that is illuminated in the exquisitely tender but striking quality of her works and the calibre of the craftswomanship of each work. I'm proud of having worked closely with such a powerful artist such as Zohra.”

 

 

"The process wasn't always smooth but for those working within the field of exhibition-making, they will know crisis is inevitable in this space. It was challenging assembling the different works and archival and studio ephemera together. For one, her works are dispersed through different parts of the world and secondly, we wanted to tell an authentic story of the artist and her work. Therefore, we had to make very considered decisions about which works we could bring into the exhibition and what other resources could be integrated into the composition of the exhibition that could complement the story we wanted to tell for this survey exhibition of an artist whose work and practice is very important for African people on the continent and those in the diaspora."

 

"Zohra's work is expansive in its meaning and breathtaking in its technical production. The work speaks to notions of self, ancestry, spirituality and personal transformation... Some key exhibition themes have to do with ideas around: Self-discovery, ancestral lineage, familyhood, spiritual transformation, emotional resilience and finding a sense of belonging."

 

'We Proceed in the Footsteps of the Sunlight' runs from 11 September 2025 until 4 October 2026 at Zeitz MOCAA.