One Must Be Seated. Rita Mawuena Benissan. 13 November 24 – 05 October 25. Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA), Cape Town – South Africa.

One Must Be Seated, a solo exhibition by Ghanaian-American artist Rita Mawuena Benissan curated by Beata America. 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. 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.

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.