Solo Exhibition By Zanele Muholi In Cape Town

The Michael Stevenson Gallery in Cape Town will be putting up an exhibition by photographer, Zanele Muholi from April 22 to May 29 2010. The title of the exhibition is ‘Indawo Yami‘, which means ‘my place’ or ‘my space’.

[Interview with South African artist Zanele Muholi by Times Live, 2010 is no longer online]

Queer photographer and activist Zanele Muholi explores the implications of being black and queer through a range of different series and strategies. ‘Being’, a continuation of ongoing work, focuses on a quiet and tender celebration of love within the homosexual community, whether between mothers and sons or between lovers and friends. In ‘Beulahs’ Muholi uses Zulu beads and contemporary fashion accessories in presenting portraits of gay men that subvert the common image of virginal beauty. In three new series she adds a performative element by casting herself in different roles, such as that of the beauty queen in ‘Miss Lesbian’.

Zanele also uses performance to explore the perceptions of black bodies in foreign spaces and how they cause debate. In the above video Zanele discusses an art project, in which she posed in Amsterdam’s Red Light District to turn tables on how black women’s bodies are perceived.

Meet The Artist

Muholi will give a walkabout of her exhibition at the Michael Stevenson Gallery in Cape Town, South Africa, in support of the Friends of the South African National Gallery on April 23 2010 at 11am.