Zanele Muholi

Zanele Muholi

Instagram: instagram.com/muholizanele/ (external link, opens in new window) 

Program: Documentary Media (MA) ’10

Website: southernguild.com/artists/zanele-muholi (external link, opens in new window) 

Zanele Muholi is a visual activist, humanitarian and art practitioner dedicated to documenting and celebrating the lives of South Africa’s Black LGBTQIA+ communities. Born in Durban and now based in Cape Town, Muholi studied Advanced Photography at the Market Photo Workshop in Johannesburg and earned an MFA in Documentary Media from TMU. In response to the continuing discrimination and violence faced by the LGBTQIA+ community, since 2006, Muholi has focused on photographing Black lesbian and transgender individuals through their ongoing portrait project, Faces and Phases. Their recent series, Somnyama Ngonyama (Hail the Dark Lioness), features Muholi as both participant and image-maker. Deeply committed to educational activism, community outreach and youth development, Muholi established the Muholi Arts Institute in Cape Town in 2021, following earlier initiatives like the Forum for Empowerment of Women and Inkanyiso. Recognized with numerous international awards, Muholi has held solo exhibitions at major institutions and participated in significant group shows worldwide.