Zanele Muholi: Visual Activism and the Politics of Black Queer Visibility

South African visual activist Zanele Muholi (born 1972, Umlazi) is featured at the 2019 Venice Biennale after recent solo shows at Galleria del Cembalo in Rome and a 2013 appearance at Fondazione Fotografia di Modena. In an interview with Artribune, Muholi discusses the intersection of photography, activism, and the legacy of apartheid. They explain that their work stems from a necessity to challenge the Bantu Education Act, which aimed to destroy Black intellectual and emotional life. Muholi uses photography to document queer Black bodies, countering historical erasure by museums and mainstream media. They emphasize that their practice is about rewriting history, herstory, queerstory, and transtory for future generations. Muholi rejects the label 'artist' in favor of 'visual activist,' citing ongoing projects like the Mobile School of Photography in KwaZulu-Natal and the Women's Mobile Photography program in Philadelphia, as well as the LGBTI archive inkanyiso.org. They stress education as the antidote to racism, violence, and intolerance, and note that their series 'Somnyama Ngonyama' offers 365 images to familiarize viewers with Blackness beyond stereotype. Muholi co-founded the Forum for the Empowerment of Women and continues philanthropic work to grant Black people access to galleries and museums.