Nubuke Extended:
A New Space for Art in Accra

For most of its first decade, Nubuke Foundation operated out of a single storey in East Legon — one building holding exhibitions, offices, a shop, storage, and everything else that keeps an arts institution running. It worked. But by the mid-2010s, the Foundation had outgrown it.

[📖 Read the special Nu'sletter edition on Nubuke Extended, by Erandi de Silva →]

Planning for a new gallery building began in 2016. Construction started in October 2017 and was completed in December 2019. The project, designed by Austrian architects nav_s Baerbel Mueller and Juergen Strohmayer with Orthner Orthner & Associates as architect of record, transformed the East Legon grounds into what they have since become: a proper cultural campus.

Nubuke Extended by nav_s baerbel mueller + Juergen Strohmayer - (c) Juergen Strohmayer

The new gallery building — a split-level, column-free space with high ceilings and exposed concrete walls — was built to host the kind of ambitious, site-specific work that characterises contemporary art in West Africa. A built-in rail system runs throughout for hanging works and curtains. The raw concrete is deliberate; it is a backdrop, not the statement. The statement is what happens inside it.

Nubuke Extended by nav_s baerbel mueller + Juergen Strohmayer - (c) Juergen Strohmayer

Beneath the raised structure, a shaded outdoor area hosts music events and gatherings. The original bungalow became a dedicated office building, a co-working lounge with a small library, and a home for the foundation’s gift shop. The whole campus was reimagined, not just one building.

The construction was done almost entirely by Ghanaian contractors — HITL Construction Ltd., Mecraft Ventures, Dygate Ghana Ltd., among others. That matters too.

Nubuke Extended by nav_s baerbel mueller + Juergen Strohmayer - (c) Juergen Strohmayer

The building has given the Foundation room to do more — and has added, meaningfully, to the infrastructure that contemporary art in Ghana has long needed.

Nubuke Extended by nav_s baerbel mueller + Juergen Strohmayer - (c) Juergen Strohmayer

From the Nu’sletter Archive

A New Dawn for Nubuke by Erandi de Silva

Nubuke Extended in the press:

Gallery

Experience Nubuke Extended

❷ Completed in 2019, Nubuke Foundation’s new gallery building marked an important milestone in the institution’s growth. Designed to expand exhibition possibilities and welcome wider audiences, the space reflects Nubuke’s continued commitment to contemporary art in Ghana.

Learn more about the building and its story →

❿ Twenty years of art, encounters, and shared memories come together in Nubuke’s Visual Archive. Explore photographs of exhibitions, performances, workshops, and the people who have shaped the Foundation’s story.

Explore the Visual Archive →

❸ Explore the Nubuke @ 20 programme—discover upcoming events, exhibitions, and key moments unfolding across the year, and find opportunities to experience, engage, and be part of the celebration.

See the programme calendar here →

❼ Woori means “to weave” in Waali. Since 2021, the festival has brought weavers, artists and communities together in Loho, near Wa, to share knowledge and celebrate a living tradition. Discover how weaving connects generations, creative practices and everyday life.

Explore the story of Woori →

Participants at Woori Festival’s Seminar with Weavers, 2024

Nubuke Extended: A New Space for Art in Accra

From the Nu’sletter Archive

Nubuke Extended in the press:

Gallery

Experience Nubuke Extended

Nubuke Extended:
A New Space for Art in Accra