Zanele Muholi, the return of photography against prejudice to the Tate Modern

London,

Four years ago, London’s Tate Modern opened to the public a large retrospective of Zanele Muholi, a South African artist and activist born in the early 1970s who became known two decades ago for her photographs dedicated to the life stories of black lesbians, gays, bisexuals, trans, queer and intersex people in her country, works that sought to challenge dominant ideologies and representations and that showed her models as examples of courage in the face of prejudice, intolerance and, often, violence.

That anthology, the author’s first extensive solo exhibition in the United Kingdom, had to be closed due to the pandemic and lockdown, but since last June and until January 2025 that centre has hosted an expanded version of it, which arrives in the British capital after a European tour where it has been very well received.

It is well known that in the 1990s South Africa experienced fundamental social and political changes, although these did not affect all segments of the population to the same extent: although its post-apartheid Constitution, enacted in 1996, was one of the first in the world to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, non-heterosexuals continued to be targets of violence and rejection and, Muholi argues, they are to this day. In his early series Only Half the Picture He focuses on moments of love and intimacy of his models, or on traumatic events in their lives; more or less at the same time, he also started a continuous visual archive of portraits, called Faces and Phaseswhich celebrates and commemorates black lesbians and transgender people: each participant addresses the camera directly, challenging the viewer to hold their gaze, while individual testimonies report on their past. This work has become a living archive of that community in South Africa and beyond.

The exhibition includes other fundamental series by the artist, such as Brave Beautiesdedicated to non-binary people and trans women, or Beinga set of tender images of couples that challenge heteronormative stereotypes and taboos, including those linked to white supremacy. Muholi uses these compositions to tell both collective and individual stories and to dismantle preconceived beliefs about deviance and victimhood, encouraging audiences to delve deeper into their own misconceptions and generate a shared sense of understanding and solidarity.

Zanele Muholi. Xiniwe at Cassilhous, North Carolina, 2016. Courtesy of the artist and Yancey Richardson, New York

New photos from the acclaimed dramatic self-portrait series are being presented for the first time in England Somnyama Ngonyama (Hail the Dark Lionessin the isiZulu language). By turning the camera on herself, Muholi adopts different poses and personas to address issues of race and representation, using materials such as scouring pads and latex gloves, rubber tyres and cable ties that she transforms into politically charged props, subverting their everyday connotations. The resulting images explore issues of labour, racism, Eurocentrism and sexual politics, and often also serve as a footnote to South African history and Muholi’s personal experiences as a queer black woman when travelling abroad. By heightening contrast in her photographs, the artist emphasises the darkness of her skin tone, proudly acknowledging her blackness and affirming her beauty.

Since 2020, Muholi has expanded her portraiture practice into the field of sculpture. Four monumental pieces have arrived at Tate Modern that allude to the relationship between the public and private spheres; larger than life-size, they include three bronze representations of herself and another, also in bronze, of the female sexual anatomy.

The final space of the exhibition focuses on collective themes, including images of protests and pride marches and other events understood as transformative. This final section also recalls the work of the Muholi Art Institute in Cape Town, founded in 2021; a self-funded initiative that offers residencies, studios and exhibition spaces for emerging creators from underserved backgrounds in South Africa.

The tour is accompanied by a soundscape specially created by South African singer and musician Toya Delazy, who is responsible for the audio aspect of the entire exhibition.