Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA) presents One Must Be Seated, a solo exhibition by Ghanaian-American artist Rita Mawuena Benissan. Deeply rooted within her Ghanaian culture, Benissan’s practice has particular focus on the reimagining of the royal umbrella and stool, symbols of Akan chieftaincy. The exhibition explores the enstoolment of a prospective chief, akin to coronation; a call to take their rightful seat in the stool that has been chosen for them. The exhibition opens Wednesday, 13 November 2024 on Level 3, Silo Side of the museum, and runs until 5 October 2025.
Through tapestry, sculpture, photography and video, Benissan’s work highlights and celebrates the rich traditions of Ghanaian culture, with a focus on Asante customs. The royal umbrella has been used since at least the 17th century, it transforms the individual underneath it, attributing significant status. Different sizes, colours, and unique gold totems that crown the umbrella canopy are seen as they move with the court in lively procession. Under the umbrella, the chief and his thoughts are hidden from the heavens above, prohibiting even God from accessing them.
Benissan delicately reimagines this cultural object through the use of the archive. As we see in works like The Triumphant King Rules (?hene a wadi Nkonim No Di Tumi) (2023) portraits of past chiefs are embedded within the fabric of the umbrella which is traditionally made with woven Kente cloth and reinterpreted in rich velvet by the artist. Her works are made by the same craftsmen who make the royal umbrellas for the palace in Kumasi, the Asante capital. By intentionally naming these artisans as collaborators, the artist honours the hands that uphold the traditions of the chieftaincy.
The exhibition layout simulates the enstoolment tradition with each successive gallery symbolising a stage in the process. Prompted by the new film, One Must Be Seated (2024), from which the exhibition takes its title, you are invited to be nominated and confronted by the ancestors. “Have you not seen the seat that we made for you? You were made to be seated.” Walking through, one passes the palace at dusk, depicted in an intricately woven tapestry, We Process at Sunrise (2024); receives a powerful affirmation of growth and renewal in the green shades of We Give Power to You (2024), another umbrella work; and is ultimately led to the final golden throne. It will embrace its chosen, sealing the bond between leader and legacy. When the time comes, will you be open to receive the call?
One Must Be Seated forms part of an ongoing series of in-depth, research-based solo exhibitions by Zeitz MOCAA that bring into focus and contextualise the practices of important artists from Africa and the Diaspora, and those whose work focuses on seminal topics in the African present.
Zeitz MOCAA’s exhibition and curatorial programming is generously supported by Gucci, the Mellon Foundation, and BMW South Africa.
MEET THE ARTIST
Rita Mawuena Benissan
Portrait by Lauren Theunissen, courtesy of the artist.
Rita Mawuena Benissan (b. 1995, Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire. Lives and works in Accra, Ghana), a Ghanaian-American interdisciplinary artist, is on a mission to reimagine the royal umbrella, transforming it from a mere protective object into a potent symbol of Ghanaian identity. With a profound passion for art and cultural history, Rita collaborates with traditional artisans to breathe life into archival photos, immortalizing individual figures and communal scenes while embodying the beauty and power of her people.
Born in Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire in 1995 to Ghanaian parents, Rita’s journey led her to the United States as a baby, where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Apparel and Textile Design from Michigan State University in 2017, followed by a Master of Fine Arts in photography and an African Studies Program Certificate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2021.
In 2020, Rita established Si Hene, a foundation dedicated to preserving Ghana’s chieftaincy and traditional culture, leaving a significant mark on Ghana’s artistic and historical narratives. Through her foundation, she played a pivotal role in the reopening of the National Museum of Ghana in 2022 and served as the Chief Curator at the Institute Museum of Ghana (Noldor Artist Residency) until 2022. Furthermore, Rita served as the artistic director for the Open Society Foundation’s Restitution Conference in Accra, demonstrating her commitment to cultural preservation and representation.
Rita’s artistic prowess has garnered global recognition, with exhibitions at prestigious venues such as Arts + Literature Laboratory in Wisconsin (2021), the Foundation Contemporary of Art at Afrochella Festival (2021), Dak’Art – Biennale de l’Art Africain Contemporain at the IFAN African Art Museum in Dakar, Senegal (2022), and the group show “EFIE: Museum as Home” in Dortmund, Germany, Mitchell and Innes Gallery in New York (2023). Her solo exhibition, “In the World Not of the World,” curated by Ekow Eshun at Gallery 1957 in Accra (2023), stands as a testament to her unwavering dedication to redefining the narrative of Ghanaian identity through beauty and strength. Rita has exhibited at 1-54 Marrakesh, in Morocco (2024) alongside Amoako Boafo and Zanele Muholi and participated in a group exhibition at the Venice Biennale (2024) called Unapologetic WomXn: The Dream is the Truth curated by Destinee Ross-Sutton. She currently has works featured in Unlimited III (2024), curated by Marwan Zahkem, “the African Family.”
Rita’s works have been acquired by private and institutional collections, including Foundation H, The Dean Collection, Fundacion Yannick Y Ben, Paola Pavirani Golinelli, Nicolas Berggruen, Amoako Boafo, and many others. Rita has an exciting year ahead, with participation in prominent fairs and preparations for her first museum show at Zeitz MOCAA in Cape Town, South Africa, later this year, and the Sharjah Biennale in UAE in early 2025.
Image credit: Still from One Must Be Seated, 2024. Film. Image by Michael “Kwame Pocho” Dakwa; Courtesy of the artist and Gallery 1957.