MWANGOLA

Artist: Gelmira Gourgel

Location: Rear Gallery

MWANGOLA is an archival curatorial project that explores the memories of Angolan 60s and 70s revolutionary music as a powerful expression of resistance against colonial rule and exploitation through the oil industry. The music from this era has lived on within the living rooms and backyards of Angolan house parties. Mwangola breaks down the distinct structures that supported the revolution as Angola became a nation heading towards liberation. Mwangola dissects the infrastructure of music making and music recording supported by Angola’s national radio station, and the vinyl pressing, vinyl distribution, secret radio broadcasting, and backyard parties that followed as a mode of resistance and cultural preservation. This architecture of solidarity brings acoustical and material tectonics together as a way to support the collective memory of Angolan Semba.

Oil exploration in Angola became commercially viable when the Cabinda Gulf Oil Company (a subsidiary of the American Gulf Oil Company, now Chevron) discovered offshore oil deposits in 1955 and began production in 1968.  Gulf Oil purchased leasing rights to produce oil from the Portuguese government, which by 1972 resulted in payments of $400 million per year. The leasing revenue alone accounted for 60% of the Portuguese colonial war efforts during the Angolan War for Independence.

American activists, worked creatively across networks at home and abroad to influence US foreign policy and the actions of private corporations, with varied success.

Artist Bio:

Gelmira Gourgel is an architectural designer, creative director, and curator based in New York. Her practice moves between architecture, exhibition-making, and visual storytelling, bringing research, narrative, and material inquiry into architectural interrogations. She has been recognized with the Avery 6 Award '26 from Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP) and the Directors Choice Award (2022) from the University of Cincinnati's College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP). She has worked designing for Gensler, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF), and DXA Studio, among others. At Columbia GSAPP, Gourgel served as Vice President and Executive Board Member of the Black Students Alliance (BSA), where she represented and collaborated with the Feminist Spatial Practice Panel Discussion, as well as the Columbia Business School African Conference panel for Africa's developing infrastructures. Gourgel also served as an Executive Board Member of GSAPP GAP, where she was part of the Advertising and Social Media Team. Her exhibitions and research include Twills D'argilla with Natural Materials Lab at GSAPP, and MWANGOLA at Avery Hall, in Fall 2025. Gourgel also integrated the Title Magazine collective as project lead, developing set designs that connect research, narrative, and creative practice.