Zanele Muholi

The long-awaited monograph of Zanele Muholi, one of the most powerful visual activists on the international contemporary scene.

Sonnyama Ngonyama, literally “Hail Black Lioness,” is the social and political proclamation of Zanele Muholi, one of the most interesting voices in Visual Activism. Top international awards, such as Lucie Award, Chevalier des Arts et Des lettres, ICP Infinity Award, have honored her work for artistic and social engagement; and the world’s most prestigious museums celebrate the poignant and magnetic beauty of her works.

Muholi experienced theApartheid years,and is now a prominent member of the LGBTQI community, exposing herself in the first person. Each of her images tells a specific story, referring to personal experiences, or a reflection on a broader social and historical context. The artist’s gaze disquiets, moves and denounces; everyday objects, taken in a symbolic manner, are placed in close dialogue with her body.

For Muholi, beautiful compositions and absolute talent are a means of affirming the need to exist, the dignity and respect to which every human being is entitled in spite of the race and gender with which he or she identifies. His purpose is the removal of barriers, the rethinking of history, the encouragement to be oneself, and to use artistic tools such as a camera as weapons to assert oneself and fight back.

AUTHOR
ZANELEMUHOLI – Born in 1972 in Umlazi, Durban, she lives in Johannesburg, South Africa. She studied Advanced Photography at the Market Photo Workshop in Newtown, Johannesburg, and holds an MFA in Documentary Media from Ryerson University, Toronto. She is an Honorary Professor at the University of the Arts, Bremen, and was the recipient of the prestigious Prince Claus Award and the Carnegie Fine Prize.