Determination by Ghislaine Sabiti

Determination, Milende, leather, threads, metal, ink, oil on deconstructed canvas, 17x 55 inches, 2023

These braiding heads were inspired by sister Sikolo Brathwaite, a Grandassa Model wearing a beaded headpiece by Carolee Prince. I reinterpreted this headpiece These braiding heads represent the men’s and women’s strength and unity, they are the community’s crown. Milende means determination in lingala. It gives a border a new sense. We need each other’s energy, solidarity, and mutual aid to survive as a society. 

Ghislaine Sabiti is a French-American Congolese-born artist and teacher who is currently based in New York. Raised on the outskirts of Paris, France, Sabiti studied fine art at Atelier Chantier du Coq, and graduated with honors studying fashion design at Atelier Chardon Savard in Paris. In her work, she focuses on the technical form used in both African and European arts, in which stresses both form and color. Being an award winning artist, Sabiti’s work has been exhibited and commissioned internationally throughout all of France and the U.S. within multiple galleries and art museums.