From portrait to self-portrait: Zanele Muholi's activist photography and sculpture
Exhibitionistas - Notes on ArtFebruary 07, 202501:25:31

From portrait to self-portrait: Zanele Muholi's activist photography and sculpture

After a hilarious take on Gladiator II by Emily, we explore Muholi's unique path into activism, photography, curated exhibitions, sculpture, and self-imagery. Muholi's work focuses on queer communities in South Africa through a form of what the artist calls "visual activism". But there is also self-portraiture, as the artist is part of this LGBTQIA+ diverse fabric. For Muholi, their use of the pronouns they/them goes way beyond gender identity. It recognises past histories, visible and invisible, and identity as multitude. Muholi says 'There are those who came before me who make me.' Shockingly, Emily and I broke our own rules and actually visited the show together… which turned out to be quite productive. 


To know more about the exhibition: https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/zanele-muholi


You can follow them on Instagram too: @muholizanele


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Music by Sarturn.






If you enjoy Katy Hessel's The Great Women Artists Podcast, this episode is for you. It is centred around the artistic practice of non-binary South African artist Zanele Muholi, whose work is steeped in questions of identity and gender in a sophisticated and nuanced way.