South African queer artist to showcase collection at prestigious London gallery
The work of Muholi, one of the most acclaimed photographers working today, has been exhibited all over the world.
[NEDS/SUBS please note the artist chooses to be referred to in the plural.]
CAPE TOWN, November 4 (ANA) – South African queer visual activist Zanele Muholi, whose work has been exhibited all over the world, will showcase their collection at the prestigious Tate Modern Exhibition in London, their first major UK survey by Muholi.
According to the official Tate Modern website, Muholi is one of the most acclaimed photographers working today, and their work has been exhibited all over the world. With over 260 photographs, this exhibition presents the full breadth of their career to date.
From the early 2000s, they have documented and celebrated the lives of South Africa’s black lesbian, gay, trans, queer and intersex communities.
According to a review by British publication the Guardian, with provocative images of lesbian empowerment and gender play, the photographer celebrates the resilience, style and creativity of South Africa’s queer community.
For their series “Faces and Phases” (2006–11), Muholi photographed more than 200 portraits of South Africa’s lesbian community.
“The portraits are at once a visual statement and an archive,” they have said, “marking, mapping, and preserving an often invisible community for posterity, ” writes website Artsy.net.
According to Tate Modern, Muholi capture moments of love and intimacy as well as intense images alluding to traumatic events – despite the equality promised by South Africa’s 1996 constitution, its LGBTQIA+ community remains a target for violence and prejudice.
In an interview with British Vogue, Muholi was quoted as saying, “As an activist, I’m in solidarity with all black people across the world who have been suffering from racism, displacement, xenophobia and brutality over all these years.
“Many have lamented these atrocities; they continuously speak without being heard,” they added.
According to the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art, Muholi’s most recent solo exhibitions include Somnyama Ngonyama at Wentrup (Berlin, Germany: 2017); Documenting Identity, Teaching Activism at Saint Michael’s College Colchester (Vermont, USA: 2017); Faces and Phases at Sewanee University Art Gallery (Tennessee, USA: 2017); Zinathi at Gallatin Galleries (New York University: 2016); and Somnyama Ngonyama at Standard Bank Gallery Albany Museum (National Arts Festival, Grahamstown: 2016).
Muholi also exhibited as part of Documenta 13 (2017) and were included as part of the South African Pavilion at the 55th Venice Biennale (Venice, Italy: 2017); Art/Afrique, le nouvel atelier at Fondation Louis Vuitton (Paris: 2017); and Kyotographie International Photography Festival (Kyoto: 2017), according to the Zeitz Museum.
According to reports, the artist lives in Johannesburg and was born in uMlazi, Durban.
In 2003 they studied Advanced Photography at the Market Photo Workshop in Newtown, Johannesburg and completed an MFA in Documentary Media at Ryerson University, Toronto in 2009.
They are also an honorary professor at the University of the Arts/Hochschule für Künste Bremen.
– African News Agency (ANA)
