Rita Mawuena Benissan
Rita Mawuena Benissan, The One Who is Shaded by Tradition, 2024, embroidery on velvet, 200 × 200 cm, courtesy of OmenaArt Foundation
Rita Mawuena Benissan is a Ghanaian-American interdisciplinary artist. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Apparel and Textile Design from Michigan State University in 2017, followed by a Master of Fine Arts in Photography with a certificate in African Studies from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 2021. Her work has been exhibited in galleries across the United States, Germany, and Senegal, including at the prestigious Dak’Art – Biennale of Contemporary African Art. Rita is currently presenting her first solo museum exhibition at Zeitz MOCAA in Cape Town, South Africa.
In her artistic practice, she often collaborates with traditional artisans and explores the symbolism of the Ghanaian royal umbrella, reinterpreting it through a contemporary lens and transforming it into a powerful emblem of Ghanaian identity.
Exhibitions
2025
Sharjah Biennal 16: To carry, Gallery 1957 (w duecie z Kaloki Nyamai Participation)
2024/2025
One Must Be Seated, Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, Kapsztad, RPA (wystawa indywidualna)
Keeping time, Gallery 1957, Accra, Ghana (wystawa zbiorowa)
2024
Unlimited III: The African Family, Gallery 1957, Accra, Ghana (wystawa zbiorowa)
2023
Unlimited II, Gallery 1957, Accra, Ghana (wystawa zbiorowa)
In the world not of the world, Gallery 1957, Accra, Ghana (wystawa indywidualna)
Worldmaking, Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York (wystawa zbiorowa)
2022
Ghana, Land of Freedom, The Mix Gallery, Accra, Ghana (wystawa indywidualna)
2021
Okuafo Pa, Foundation of Contemporary Art, Accra, Ghana (wystawa indywidualna)
Mo Apiafo, MFA Show, Arts + Literature Laboratory, Madison, Wisconsin,
USA (wystawa indywidualna)
EFIE: The Museum as Home, Museum Ostwall im Dortmunder U, Dortmund, Germany (wystawa zbiorowa)
The Medium is the Message- The African Diaspora Story, Taylor Hall Gallery, Newark Delaware, USA (wystawa zbiorowa)
2020
Arbitrary Ground: Queers and Complacency Exhibition, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA (wystawa zbiorowa)
6 - Feet, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA (wystawa zbiorowa)
2019
Power of the Crown, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin,
USA (wystawa indywidualna)
Manifest Photo Exhibition, University of Wisconsin- Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA (wystawa zbiorowa)
What Now?, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA (wystawa zbiorowa)
2018
Survive in America, Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center, Birmingham,
Michigan, USA (wystawa indywidualna)
Survive in America, Baltimore Art Gallery, Detroit, Michigan, USA (wystawa indywidualna)
Survive in America, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA (wystawa indywidualna)
Explore/Expose Photo Exhibition, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA (wystawa zbiorowa)
MFA Photography Exhibition, University of Wisconsin- Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA (wystawa zbiorowa)
2016
Apparel and Textile Exhibition, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA (wystawa zbiorowa)
2015
Apparel and Textile Exhibition, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA (wystawa zbiorowa)
