Projects 104: Nástio Mosquito

Projects 104: Nastio Mosquito

Through a multidisciplinary practice that bridges performance, music, video, installation, sound, and poetry, Nástio Mosquito (Angolan, born 1981) tackles formidable subjects, from identity to faith to the complicated history of colonialism in his native country. Projects 104: Nástio Mosquito comprises a new work, Respectable Thief, that investigates the act and effects of appropriation—the ways in which both individuals and cultures “take possession of what is useful,” as he has described, to construct identity, to maintain relationships, and to gain power. Mosquito is interested in the fluid possibilities of language both as a means of expression and as a tool for empowerment. Respectable Thief’s text-based visual and sonic elements recur and recombine across the Project’s three components: a single performance on September 23, 2016, in the Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters; a video installation; and several interventions across MoMA’s existing media platforms, including the display screens in the lobby, the Kids audio tour, and select social media channels. This is Mosquito’s first solo exhibition in a US museum.

Respectable Thief is commissioned by The Museum of Modern Art in conjunction with Projects 104: Nástio Mosquito.

Organized by Cara Manes, Assistant Curator, Department of Painting and Sculpture.

The Elaine Dannheisser Projects Series is made possible in part by the Elaine Dannheisser Foundation and The Junior Associates of The Museum of Modern Art. Special thanks to Corpus, a network for performance practice, and Vooruit Arts Centre.