Zanele Muholi

Zanele Muholi
Feb 24, 2025 – Jul 6, 2025

601 Turner Blvd.
Savannah, GA 31401

Zanele Muholi, a pioneering visual activist and artist, has spent two decades using photography, film, and sculpture to document and celebrate Black Queer lives in South Africa and beyond. Their work challenges gender stereotypes, elevates personal narratives, and underscores the urgent need for visibility, respect, and recognition within the LGBTQIA+ community.

This exhibition highlights several key series from Muholi’s prolific practice. *Somnyama Ngonyama (Hail the Dark Lioness)*, an ongoing self-portrait series, features striking black-and-white images in which the artist assumes various personas. Using everyday objects like clothespins, rugs, and plastic bags as adornments, Muholi transforms the ordinary into potent symbols of personal and political commentary.

Also on view are selections from *Brave Beauties*, a series that captures trans women and nonbinary individuals in bold, empowered poses, and *Faces and Phases*, a living archive of Black lesbians, gender-nonconforming individuals, and trans men. Initiated in response to the discrimination and violence faced by these communities in South Africa, *Faces and Phases* serves as both documentation and defiance.

A never-before-seen selection of portraits from *Somnyama Ngonyama*, presented in lightbox format, intensifies the interplay of light and shadow, further amplifying the series’ dramatic impact. Across these bodies of work, Muholi redefines Black Queer representation, disrupting dominant narratives while offering a powerful and deeply human perspective.

Image: Zanele Muholi, "Phila I, Parktown," 2016, edition of 8 + 2 artist’s proofs. Courtesy of Southern Guild and Yancey Richardson. © Zanele Muholi


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