Emmanuel Aggrey Tieku is the winner of the 2025 Ellipse Prize, a prize focused on Ghana’s emerging art scene.
Tieku was selected by an independent jury from five finalists—Reginald Boateng, Sena Burgundy, Nana Frimpong Oduro and Dela Anyah— who were selected out of 82 applicants. The jury included Victoria Mann, art historian and financial director at Also Known As Africa (AKAA); Binta Ata, founder of Mix Design Hub in Accra; and Barbara Kokpavo Janvier, founder and director at Gallery Soview, Accra. The finalists exhibited their work at Mix Design Hub from the 11th until the 27th of April 2025 ahead of the winner announcement.
As a multidisciplinary artist, Teiku’s work celebrates Ghana’s emerging art scene and transforms discarded textiles into striking works exploring identity, consumption and climate.
As the 2025 laureate, Emmanuel Aggrey Tieku will receive a production grant, tailored support and a communication campaign. His work will also be showcased at AKAA Art and Design Fair in Paris from the 24th until the 26th of October 2025. This work, just like the works of the five finalists were created under Ellipse Prize’s fifth edition theme “Butterfly Effect,” highlighting Ghana’s vibrant artistic landscape.
About the artist
Born in 1994 in Cape Coast, Ghana 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 industrialisation, climate change and textile waste in Ghana.
The Ellipse Prize celebrates emerging and mid-career artists whose work engages with social, political and environmental issues. Aggrey Tieku’s win is a significant acknowledgment of both his vision and the broader movement toward art as activism. With his pieces, he doesn’t merely comment on the world; he seeks to change it.
