Artist Database

Zanele Muholi was born in Durban, later moving to Johannesburg and forming an integral part in the photographic representation of the South African LGBTQ community. Muholi is a visual activist, humanitarian, and photographer. They studied at the Market Photo Workshop in Johannesburg and obtained a Master of Fine Arts degree in documentary media from Ryerson University in Canada with a thesis on the visual history of black lesbian identity and politics in post-apartheid South Africa. As a photographer and activist, they founded two forums directed at empowering women and supporting queer artistic activism. Muholi has exhibited across South Africa and abroad, including the 55th Venice Biennale (2013); the Brooklyn Museum (2015), New York City, USA; documenta 13 (2021) in Kassel, Germany; Tate Modern (2020 – 21), London; and Norval Foundation, Cape Town.