Ga Bose Gangwe

Mohau Modisakeng, South African, born 1986

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2014

Single channel HD video

9/10 (Edition of 10 + 2 AP)

Duration: 129 seconds (2.15 minutes)

Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Purchased through the Sondra and Charles Gilman Jr., Foundation Fund

© Mohau Modisakeng

2022.41ab

Geography

Place Made: South Africa, Africa

Period

21st century

Object Name

Time Based Media

Research Area

Time Based Media

Africa

Not on view

Label

Mohau Modisakeng was born in Soweto in 1986, as uprisings and activism brought South African apartheid to an end. Growing up during this transitional period, the artist witnessed the aspirations of Black South Africans for a post-colonial nation and the negative effects of global power structures on the reformed country. In this video, the movements of the men are a metaphor for the struggle of Black South Africans to overcome colonialism and achieve national liberation. Their ascending gestures, which never reach fulfi llment, encapsulate the hopes, determination, and frustrations of post-colonial nations. The title of the video, Ga Bose Gangwe, is taken from a Setswana (a Bantu language spoken in Southern Africa) proverb, phiri o rile ga bo se gangwe, that translates to "Better luck next time" or "Do or try again."

From the 2023 exhibition Mohau Modisakeng: Ga bose gangwe, curated by Alisa Swindell, Associate Curator of Photography


Provenance

Jenkins Johnson Gallery, Brooklyn, New York; sold to present collection, 2022.

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