MoMA Collaboration Reception Highlights
The reception for artist Dineo Seshee Bopape and The Museum of Modern Art in New York for the artist’s new exhibition, Projects: Dineo Seshee Bopape occurred on June 28, 2023.
The Artist collaborated with the Menokin Descendant Collective and Menokin Foundation in this exhibition. The central piece of the exhibit being a multichannel sound and video installation Lerato laka le a phela le a phela le a phela/My love is alive, is alive, is alive (2022), also incorporates soil, rock, and water. The exhibition is on view from July 1 through October 9, 2023.
Several direct decedents of those persons enslaved at Menokin, Board of Trustee members, and Menokin staff who worked directly on the project were in attendance.
The Menokin Descendant Collective, comprised of descendants of enslaved persons at Menokin, created small sculptures from Menokin landscape-sourced clay, where their ancestors had once lived in bondage. The clay was sent to participating descendants to create molds with their hands for placement within the installation.
“The Menokin Descendant Collective is deeply appreciative to Dineo Seshee Bopape for the invitation to participate in her upcoming exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.”, says Judith Gordon, a descendant of enslaved persons at Menokin and member, Menokin Board of Trustees, “Together, we will once again remember and honor our enslaved ancestors specifically, and broadly, all enslaved ancestors. Viewing Dineo’s work, we are profoundly reminded of what our ancestors endured and of their contribution despite the most devastating circumstances. We are reminded of a people of extraordinary spiritual strength and the legacy this is for us, their descendants.
