He had drifted from his training as a painter until a bag of decommissioned money cut into confetti led him to make paintings with the material.
[1] Gaba became known for his installations of everyday objects that whimsically juxtapose African and Western cultural identities and commerce.
[6] The exhibited Museum had couches for reading, a piano for playing, and featured objects reflecting Africa's polycultural character, including Ghanaian money featuring the face of Picasso, a Swiss bank mimicking an African street market, and gilded ceramic chicken legs.
[5] For instance, the Art and Religion room showed "classic" African ceremonial sculpture alongside kitschy Buddhist and Christian objects, as if to group the types together as poor representations of their respective cultures.
[4] In-between finishing the Museum and its Tate exhibition, Gaba presented at the 2003 Venice Biennale and held his first solo show in the United States at the Studio Museum in Harlem, "Tresses", a series of architectural models of New York City and Benin landmarks made from artificial braided hair extensions.
The accessory, popularized by African-American pop stars based on West African culture, was repatriated to Africa.
On the ground floor, 10 sculptures of unvarnished wood tables each with a wire umbrella stand, from which African banknotes hung.