海角社区

January 8 鈥� March 20, 2021听听听

CVA is proud to present Zanele Muholi: Somnyama Ngonyama, Hail the Dark Lioness, an internationally touring exhibition organized by Autograph, London and curated by Ren茅e Mussai.听听

听In more than鈥�80 self-portraits,鈥痗elebrated鈥痸isual activist鈥痁anele Muholi (South Africa, b. 1972) uses their body as a canvas to confront the鈥痙eeply personal鈥痯olitics of race and representation in the visual archive. Their ongoing series Somnyama Ngonyama, which translates as 鈥楬ail The Dark Lioness鈥欌�痠n鈥痠siZulu, one of the official languages of South Africa, playfully employs the conventions of classical painting, fashion photography, and the familiar tropes of ethnographic imagery to rearticulate contemporary identity politics.听 Each black and white self-portrait asks critical questions about social (in)justice, human rights, and contested representations of the Black body.听

Muholi states, 鈥淚鈥檓 reclaiming my blackness, which I feel is continuously performed by the privileged other. My reality is that I do not mimic being Black; it is my skin, and the experience of being Black is deeply entrenched in me. Just like our ancestors, we live as Black people 365 days a year, and we should speak without fear.鈥�听听

Throughout the series, the dark complexion of Muholi鈥檚 skin (intensified through enhanced contrast applied in post-production), becomes the focal point of a profound, multilayered interrogation of beauty, pride, desire, self-care, well-being, and the many interlinked phobias and isms navigated daily such as homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, racism, and sexism, to name but a few.听听

The exhibition features photographs taken between 2012 – 2019 in cities across Europe, North America, Asia, and Africa. Muholi’s socially-engaged, radical brand of self-portraiture transforms鈥痜ound objects and quotidian materials into dramatic and historically loaded props, merging the political鈥痺ith the personal, aesthetics with history鈥�-鈥痮ften commenting on specific events in鈥疭outh Africa鈥檚 past, as well as urgent global concerns pertinent to our present times: scouring pads and latex gloves address themes of domestic servitude while alluding to sexual politics,鈥痗ultural鈥痸iolence, and the often-suffocating prisms of鈥痝endered identities. Rubber tires, cable ties, or electrical cords invoke forms of social brutality and exploitation;鈥�鈥�sheets of鈥痯lastic and polythene鈥痙raw attention to environmental issues and global waste, while accessories like cowrie shells and beaded fly whisks highlight Western fascinations with clich茅d, exoticized representations of African cultures鈥痑nd people.听

Gazing defiantly at the camera, Muholi challenges viewers鈥� perceptions while firmly asserting their cultural and sexual identity on their own terms.听听

Ren茅e Mussai, exhibition curator and Autograph鈥檚 Senior Curator and head of Curatorial & Collections, explains that Somnyama Ngonyama presents 鈥渁 compelling and visionary mosaic of identities, an exquisite empire of selves. Inviting us into a multilayered, visceral conversation, each photograph in the series, each visual inscription, each confrontational narrative depicts a self in profound dialogue with countless others: implicitly gendered, non-conforming, culturally complex and historically grounded Black bodies. It鈥檚 a great privilege and honour to be working with the Cooper Gallery again, after numerous curatorial collaborations over the years, to present the work of one of Africa鈥檚 most celebrated and courageous contemporary artists 鈥� especially poignant considering the current socio-cultural climate globally.鈥澨�听

Zanele Muholi is a visual activist and photographer based in Johannesburg. Muholi鈥檚 self-proclaimed mission is 鈥渢o re-write a Black queer and trans visual history of South Africa for the world to know of our resistance and existence at the height of hate crimes in South Africa and beyond.鈥澨�听

They (Muholi鈥檚 preferred pronoun) co-founded the Forum for Empowerment of Women (FEW) in 2002 (www.inkanyiso.org), and in 2009 founded Inkanyiso (www.inkanyiso.org), a forum for queer and visual (activist) media. They continue to train and co-facilitate photography workshops for young women in South African townships and engage in a variety of community support programs.听

Muholi studied Advanced Photography at the Market Photo Workshop in Newtown, Johannesburg, and in 2009 completed an MFA: Documentary Media at Ryerson University, Toronto. In 2013 they became an Honorary Professor at the University of the Arts/Hochschule f眉r K眉nste Bremen.听

Awards and accolades received include the Humanitarian鈥�Award from for the Lucie Foundation (2019); Rees Visionary Award by Amref Health Africa (2019); a fellowship from the Royal Photographic Society, UK (2018); France鈥檚 Chevalier de l鈥橭rdre des Arts et des Lettres (2017); the Mbokodo Award in the category of Visual Arts (2017); ICP Infinity Award for Documentary and Photojournalism (2016); Africa鈥橲out! Courage and Creativity Award (2016); Fine Prize鈥痜or an emerging artist at the 2013 Carnegie International; Prince Claus Award鈥�(2013); Index on Censorship鈥�鈥� Freedom of Expression art award (2013); and Casa Africa鈥痑ward for best female photographer and Fondation Blach猫re鈥痑ward at Les Rencontres de Bamako biennial of African photography (2009).听

听

Muholi won the 2019 鈥楤est Photography Book Award鈥� by the Kraszna-Krausz Foundation 蹿辞谤鈥�Somnyama Ngonyama: Hail, The Dark Lioness鈥�(Aperture) and was shortlisted for the 2015 Deutsche B枚rse Photography Prize for the publication鈥�Faces and Phases 2006-14鈥�(Steidl/The Walther Collection). Other publications include鈥�Zanele Muholi: African Women Photographers #1鈥�(Casa Africa and La F谩brica, 2011);鈥�Faces and Phases鈥�(Prestel, 2010); and鈥�Only half the picture鈥�(Stevenson, 2006).听

听

Somnyama Ngonyama was exhibited in鈥�May You Live in Interesting Times,鈥�the 58th鈥疺enice Biennale (2019); and in 2017, they produced a city-wide project titled鈥�Masihambisane 鈥� on Visual Activism 蹿辞谤鈥�Performa 17, New York, and their work featured in the inaugural exhibitions at the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, Cape Town. Recent solo exhibitions including Seattle Art Museum (2019); Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, Georgia (2018); Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires (2018); LUMA Westbau (2018), and Market Photo Workshop, Johannesburg (2017) Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2017); Autograph, London (2017); and the Brooklyn Museum, New York (2015). Their work was also showcased at the South African Pavilion at the 55th Venice Biennale (2013); dOCUMENTA 13 (2012), and the 29th S茫o Paulo Biennial (2010).
听

Their photographs are represented in major collections globally, including Centre Georges Pompidou (Paris), the Guggenheim (New York), Museum of Contemporary Photography (Chicago), Tate Modern (London), South African National Gallery (Cape Town), and others.听听

They are represented by Yancey Richardson, New York, and Stevenson, Cape Town/Johannesburg.听听

Autograph is an arts charity based in London, UK, that advocates internationally for the work of artists who use photography and film to highlight issues of identity, representation, human rights and social justice. 听听