Godfried Donkor

Godfried Donkor’s mixed-media works examine the charged socio-historical relationship between Africa, Europe, and the Caribbean. Known for collages with newsprint and gold leaf, Donkor mines imagery from religious, archival, and pop-cultural sources. Born in Kumasi, Ghana, Donkor received a BA in fine arts from Central Saint Martins (1989) and an MA in African art history from the University of London (1995). Donkor’s subjects have included the relationship between boxing and the slave trade, a 19th-century colonial depiction of the Asante Yam Festival in his hometown (The First Day of the Yam Custom, 1817, 2017), and the transcontinental history of lace production. He has shown in major biennials such as Dak’Art (1998 and 2018), the Venice Biennale (2001), and EVA International (2016). His work is held in public collections, including the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, the Stedelijk Museum, and the Studio Museum in Harlem.