Ghanaian sculptor El Anatsui honored at time100 most influential people gala in New York

Ghanaian sculptor, El Anatsui, was honored recently in New York, at the Time100 Most Influential People gala. Other game changers from the African continent were Wangira Mathai, a Kenyan environmentalist and activist, VP/Regional Director World Resources Institute; and Dimie Ogoina, a Nigerian infectious disease and physician-scientist at Niger Delta University.

Also honored were Nigerian politician, President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu; Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, the Tanzanian biodiversity leader and Cameroonian soccer player, Kylian Mbappé.

In an interview with El Anatsui, an Emeritus Professor of Sculpture, he fondly recalled the early years of his career, when he was questioned about what he could possibly do in art. He described this year’s recognition from Time magazine as “quite significant, indicating that I have been able to make an impact and do something with my art”.

Source: Oyiza Adaba, New York Africa-Related. Photos: Africa-Related/elanatsui.art

See complete list: Time100 Most Influential People 2023

ARTISTS

• Michael B. Jordan

• Drew Barrymore

• Ali Wong

• Austin Butler

• Aubrey Plaza

• Rian Johnson

• Salma Hayek Pinault

• Zoe Saldaña

• Judy Blume

• Colin Farrell

• Lea Michele

• Simone Leigh

• Wolfgang Tillmans

• Suzan-Lori Parks

• Neil Gaiman

• Shervin Hajipour

• El Anatsui

• Colleen Hoover

• Steve Lacy

ICONS

• Jennifer Coolidge

• Ke Huy Quan

• Sara Mardini and Yusra Mardini

• Shah Rukh Khan

• Pedro Pascal

• Brittney Griner

• King Charles

• Salman Rushdie

• RowVaughn Wells

• Tracie D. Hall

• Peng Lifa

• Shannon Watts

• Haluk Levent

• Imara Jones

• Yvon Chouinard

PIONEERS

• Doja Cat

• Mikaela Shiffrin

• Bella Hadid

• Sam Altman

• Niloofar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi

• Thom Browne

• S.S. Rajamouli

• MrBeast

• Elizabeth Maruma Mrema

• Britney Schmidt and Peter Davis

• Sam Rivera

• Robin Zeng

• Edward Reynolds

• Margaret Mitchell

LEADERS

• Olena Zelenska

• Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

• Hakeem Jeffries

• Evan Gershkovich

• Janet Yellen

• Sherry Rehman

• Mitch McConnell

• Anthony Albanese

• Margrethe Vestager

• Joe Biden

• Samuel Alito

• Gustavo Petro

• Gina Raimondo

• Oleksandra Matviichuk

• Fumio Kishida

• Cindy McCain

• María Herrera Magdaleno

• Olaf Scholz

• Bola Ahmed Tinubu

• Min Aung Hlaing

TITANS

• Angela Bassett

• Laurene Powell Jobs

• Lionel Messi

• Padma Lakshmi

• Johan Rockstrom

• Beyoncé

• Patrick Mahomes II

• Elon Musk

• Gina Prince-Bythewood

• Karen Lynch

• Shou Zi Chew

• Ozlem Tureci and Ugur Sahin

• Deborah Lipstadt

INNOVATORS

• Bob Iger

• Sarah Kate Ellis

• Kylian Mbappé

• Natasha Lyonne

• Monica Simpson

• Nathan Fielder

• Wanjira Mathai

• Hidetaka Miyazaki

• Jerrod Carmichael

• Catherine Coleman Flowers

• Sean Sherman

• Iga Swiatek

• Kate Orff

• Dimie Ogoina

• Andrea Kritcher