Visual activism to inform and educate on the issues of gender and sexuality in South Africa.
The following review of Zanele’s work currently on exhibit at Monash University, Australia, was written by Alicia Renew – Manager of the Faculty Gallery and Charlotte Lamont. The photographs are Zanele’s own.
Monash University’s South African artist in residence, Zanele Muholi, uses photography and artistic experimentation to explore issues of lesbian gender and sexuality in South Africa. Through her visual activism, Muholi seeks to educate different cultures and publics on the issues facing black South African lesbians. Faced by a myriad of obstacles ranging from access to adequate contraception to hate crimes such as rape and murder, Muholi documents and examines the difficulties black South African Lesbians face when trying to find a space of equality within a patriarchally and heterosexually dominated society.
