Zanele Muholi’s Visual Activism: Five Key Photographs
Zanele Muholi, a prominent visual activist hailing from Umlazi, Durban, was born in 1972. They leverage photography to bring attention to the experiences of Black LGBTIQA+ communities. Muholi pursued education at Cape Town’s Association for Visual Arts and Johannesburg’s Market Photo Workshop, culminating in a Master’s degree in Documentary Media from Ryerson University in Toronto in 2009. Notable exhibitions include their first solo show in 2004 and significant series like 'Faces and Phases' and 'Somnyama Ngonyama' from 2014. Co-founding FEW in 2002 and Inkanyiso in 2009, their work has been showcased internationally, including at the 2019 Venice Biennale.
Key facts
- Zanele Muholi was born in 1972 in Umlazi, Durban, South Africa.
- Muholi earned an MFA in Documentary Media from Ryerson University in Toronto in 2009.
- Their first solo exhibition was 'Visual Sexuality: Only Half the Picture' at Johannesburg Art Gallery in 2004.
- Muholi co-founded the Forum for the Empowerment of Women (FEW) in 2002.
- They established Inkanyiso in 2009, a non-profit for queer visual activism.
- The 'Faces and Phases' series began in 2006.
- The 'Somnyama Ngonyama' series includes 365 self-portraits starting in 2014.
- Muholi's work was shown at the Venice Biennale in 2019.
Entities
Artists
- Zanele Muholi
- David Goldblatt
- Lindeka Qampi
- Busi Sigasa
- Miss D'vine
Institutions
- Association for Visual Arts
- Market Photo Workshop
- Ryerson University
- Johannesburg Art Gallery
- Forum for the Empowerment of Women
- Inkanyiso
- Philadelphia Photo Arts Center
- Tate Modern
- Maison européenne de la photographie
- Mudec-Museo delle Culture
- Venice Biennale
- Stevenson Gallery
- Yancey Richardson Gallery
- National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
Locations
- Umlazi
- Durban
- South Africa
- Cape Town
- Johannesburg
- Toronto
- Canada
- Boston
- London
- UK
- Paris
- France
- Milan
- Italy
- Mayotte
- Parktown
- Braamfontein
- New York
- USA
- Washington, DC