Der Greif 19 — I Am Because of You, Mother Earth — Zanele Muholi

Zanele Muholi is a celebrated visual activist, humanitarian, and art practitioner invested in educational activism, community outreach, social work, and youth development. They focus on the documentation and celebration of the lives of South Africa’s Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, Queer, and intersex communities.

Born in Umlazi, Durban, and now based in Cape Town, Muholi studied Advanced Photography at the Market Photo Workshop in Johannesburg (2001–2003) with David Goldblatt and completed an MFA in Documentary Media at Ryerson University, Toronto (2009). They have received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Liège, Belgium (2023), and were appointed Honorary Professor at the University of the Arts in Bremen, Germany (2013).

Since 2006, Muholi has documented the lives and resilience of South Africa's Black LGBTQIA+ communities. Their ongoing portrait series Faces and Phases captures Black lesbian and transgender individuals, building a visual history and positive imagery rooted in resistance and mutual recognition. In Somnyama Ngonyama (Hail the Dark Lioness), Muholi turns the lens on themselves, creating self-portraits that reclaim Blackness and challenge dominant representations of Black women through experimenting with different characters and archetypes referring to specific events in South Africa’s political history. By exaggerating the darkness of their skin tone, Muholi reclaims their Blackness and offsets the culturally dominant images of Black women in the media today.

Muholi's mission has always extended beyond the gallery, having shown their work in major museums worldwide both as solo exhibitions and in group shows. In 2002, they co-founded the Forum for Empowerment of Women (FEW), responding to the needs and safety of Black lesbian women. In 2009, they launched Inkanyiso, a platform for queer visual media, and in 2021 established the Muholi Arts Institute (MAI) in Cape Town. They facilitate access to art spaces for youth practitioners through projects such as Ikhono LaseNatali and continue to provide photography workshops for young women and in the townships through PhotoXP.