Mohau Modisakeng

Sedikwa ke Ntswa’pedi (Ntswa’pedi) (Video installation, 3 minutes looped)

Artist's Statement

‘Sedikwa ke ntswa pedi gase thata’ is a Setswana idiom, which suggests that any task is easier when attended to by two (or more) people. The direct translation, however, reads thus: ‘That which is encircled by two dogs is seldom difficult’. The idea of hybridity has emerged in postcolonial discourse as a necessary condition for the negotiation of identity in contemporary African society. The question of identity in the contemporary African context often refers to this kind of approach to thinking of one’s idea of self. The question of identity in the post-apartheid context thus refers to negotiating one’s understanding of the self within a democratised political environment while at the same time continuing to deal with the residues of both colonialism and apartheid.

Artist's Biography

Born: Johannesburg, 1986. Lives and works in Cape Town. Received a BA(FA) (Hons) in 2009 and is currently completing an MFA. Major exhibitions: Spier Contemporary 2007/08; Michael Stevenson Side Gallery.

• Announcing the Audience Choice Award
• Zim Ngqawana and Kyle Shepherd do Vandalizim at Spier Contemporary
• Getting the best from the Exhibition