About this artwork
After studying music in New York, trombonist Jonas Gwangwa settled in Gaborone and started the band Shakawe in the early 1980s. The lineup included other accomplished Medu musicians—Tony Cedras, Steve Dyer, and Dennis Mpale—and a changing roster of Botswana artists.
Posters like this one were routinely distributed across Gaborone to advertise Shakawe’s weekend gigs at the city’s famed Club 500, where the band performed an Afro-fusion repertoire to large crowds. According to Medu member and music historian Gwen Ansell, Shakawe “realized the Medu vision of working collaboratively with local players and creating a sound that drew on Setswana traditions alongside Johannesburg and New York modernity.”
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Status
- Currently Off View
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Department
- Prints and Drawings
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Artist
- Thamsanqa (Thami) Mnyele
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Title
- Shakawe with Dennis Mpale
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Place
- South Africa (Artist's nationality:)
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Date
- 1983
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Medium
- Screenprint in black and brown on white wove paper
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Dimensions
- 61 × 43 cm (24 1/16 × 16 15/16 in.)
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Credit Line
- Gift of Artworkers Retirement Society
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Reference Number
- 2018.498
Extended information about this artwork
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.
