Zanele Muholi is one of today’s most celebrated photographers, with their work showcased in exhibitions worldwide. This expansive exhibition features over 260 photographs, capturing the scope of Muholi’s remarkable career.
Identifying as a visual activist, Muholi has, since the early 2000s, documented and uplifted South Africa’s Black lesbian, gay, trans, queer, and intersex communities.
In their early series Only Half the Picture, Muholi combines tender moments of love and intimacy with intense, haunting imagery that hints at trauma—underscoring the harsh reality that, despite South Africa’s 1996 constitutional promises of equality, the LGBTQIA+ community remains vulnerable to discrimination and violence. In the Faces and Phases series, each subject confronts the camera directly, inviting viewers to engage with their unflinching gaze. Together with powerful personal testimonies, these portraits form a growing archive of individuals courageously living true to themselves in the face of adversity.
Other notable series include Brave Beauties, which celebrates the resilience and beauty of non-binary individuals and trans women, and Being, a series of tender portraits of couples that push against stereotypes and societal taboos. In Somnyama Ngonyama, or “Hail the Dark Lioness,” Muholi turns the lens on themself, using powerful self-portraits to explore themes of labor, racism, Eurocentrism, and sexual politics.
Inspired by the artist’s 2020–21 Tate Modern exhibition, this showcase also includes new works in photography and sculpture, highlighting Muholi’s evolving artistry and commitment to activism.
New works will be presented from Muholi’s acclaimed series of dramatic self-portraits entitled Somnyama Ngonyama (‘Hail the Dark Lioness’ in isiZulu). Turning the camera on themself, the artist adopts different poses and characters to address issues of race and representation. From scouring pads and latex gloves to rubber tires and cable ties, everyday materials are transformed into politically loaded props. The resulting images explore themes of labour, racism, Eurocentrism and sexual politics, often commenting on events in South Africa’s history and Muholi’s experiences as a Black queer person traveling abroad. By enhancing the contrast in the photographs, Muholi also emphasises the darkness of their skin tone, owning their Blackness with pride and asserting its beauty. Since 2020, Muholi has expanded their portraiture practice into sculpture. Exploring intimacy, four monumental sculptures in the exhibition reckon with the relationship between public and private spheres. These larger than life-size works include three bronze depictions of the artist and a bronze representation of female sexual anatomy.
The exhibition runs through to 26 January 2025.
