For over two decades, Zanele Muholi has documented the lives of Black LGBTQ+ people in South Africa.
For Muholi, art is a tool to document queer culture for present and future generations. In 2002, Muholi cofounded the Forum for the Empowerment of Women, an organization dedicated to providing access to health care, housing, and education for Black lesbians. They describe themselves as a “visual activist.”
Muholi believes that it matters who stands behind the camera as well as in front of it. Whether their lens is focused on themselves, their friends, or other members of the LGBQT+ community, the individuals they photograph are participants and collaborators in the making of their portraits. While the visual representation of queer people is an act of defiance that comes with risk, it is ultimately an important statement of pride and an avenue toward acceptance by the wider community.
Muholi’s self-portraits shown here are:
- “Qiniso, The Sails, Durban” (2019) and “Bester, I, Mayotte (0093)” (2015) in
@sfmoma ’s “Zanele Muholi: Eye Me” exhibition (on view through August 18)
- “Miss (Black) Lesbian I and II” (2009) from
@moadsf ’s past exhibition “Black Venus”
- “Zazi II, ISGM, Boston,” (2019) and “Buhlalu I, The Decks, Cape Town,” (2019) in the
@tate ’s exhibition.
@muholizanele ’s works are also on view at the
@southernguildgallery in Los Angeles and at the
@tate in London.