Emmanuel Aggrey Tieku Wins 2025 Ellipse Prize Focused on Ghana’s Emerging Art Scene

The fifth edition of the ellipse prize, aligned with the theme “Butterfly Effect,” highlights Ghana's vibrant artistic landscape. This year’s winner, Emmanuel Aggrey Tieku, is a multidisciplinary artist who repurposes abandoned textiles to explore identity, overconsumption, and colonial legacies.

Born in 1994 in Cape Coast and trained as a civil engineer, Tieku draws inspiration from fabrics collected by his grandmother. He transforms second-hand garments found in markets and landfills into powerful visual statements on industrialization, climate change, and textile waste in Ghana.

Emmanuel Aggrey Tieku, Where Do We Go from Here, How to Heal a Broken World, 2025, 11 x 1,2 m, textile installation

As the 2025 laureate, Tieku will receive a production grant, tailored support, and a communication campaign. His work will also be showcased at AKAA – Also Known As Africa, from October 24 to 26, 2025.

Tieku was selected by an independent jury from five finalists—Reginald Boateng, Sena Burgundy, Nana Frimpong Oduro, and Dela Anyah—out of 82 applicants. The jury included Victoria Mann (AKAA), Binta Ata (Mix Design Hub, Accra), and Barbara Kokpavo Janvier (Gallery Soview, Accra). Finalists exhibited their work at Mix Design Hub in Accra from April 11 to 27, 2025.