A Vibrant Celebration of Women in the Disco Era
BY MICHAEL GAH
Michael’s project is thematically inspired by the women in his life, with materiality taking centre stage. Ghana has one of the worst levels of textile pollution in the world, largely due to the secondhand and fast fashion markets. The overconsumption of clothing in more developed countries trickles down to places like Ghana, where an estimated 15 million garments arrive each week from countries such as the United States, Spain, and China. These unwanted textiles create mountains of fabric, polluting the land and leaching toxins into the water.
Rather than letting these fabrics rot, Michael transforms them into beautiful artwork, bringing attention to the environmental consequences of overconsumption and celebrating the brilliance of reusing and upcycling materials. This message of transformation is threaded throughout every piece of the project.
ABOUT MICHAEL
Michael Gah is a Ghanaian artist whose work merges environmental consciousness with textile-based storytelling. Born in Accra in 1995, his practice is deeply rooted in the lived realities of coastal life, where the environmental impact of textile waste is not abstract, but vividly visible. Growing up near the shoreline, Michael witnessed firsthand how consumerism disrupted natural landscapes—a formative experience that continues to shape his artistic vision.
Inspired by early lessons in fabric repurposing learned from his mother, Michael began transforming discarded clothing into powerful, tactile artworks. What began as necessity evolved into a signature aesthetic: a fusion of personal memory, social commentary, and ecological urgency. His work is both a visual and ethical response to global waste, positioning creativity as a tool for activism.