Zanele Muholi
Somnyama Ngonyama
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Bester V, Mayotte, 2015
Copyright Zanele Muholi. Courtesy of Stevenson, Cape Town/Johannesburg and Yancey Richardson, New York
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“When I was young, I was told that I was ugly, and I had to grow up with a sense of ugliness and shame. And I had to overcome it, because nobody can love you more than you”
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Somnyama III, Paris, 2014
Copyright Zanele Muholi. Courtesy of Stevenson, Cape Town/Johannesburg and Yancey Richardson, New York
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Somnyama Ngonyama means ‘Hail, the Dark Lioness’. After having portrayed black queer and transgender women and men for years (which is ongoing), Muholi turns the camera towards herself to add a new chapter to her ‘visual activism’. With this she confronts the politics of race and pigment in the photographic archive. The result is both confusing and powerful. In her own words: ‘Experimenting with different characters and archetypes, I have portrayed myself in highly stylised fashion using the performative and expressive language of theatre. The black face and its details become the focal point, forcing the viewers to question their desire to gaze at images of my black figure. By exaggerating the darkness of my skin tone, I'm reclaiming my blackness, which I feel is continuously performed by the privileged other.’
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Bester I, Mayotte, 2015
Copyright Zanele Muholi. Courtesy of Stevenson, Cape Town/Johannesburg and Yancey Richardson, New York
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Somnyama IV, Oslo, 2015
Copyright Zanele Muholi. Courtesy of Stevenson, Cape Town/Johannesburg and Yancey Richardson, New York
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MaID, Brooklyn, New York, 2015
Copyright Zanele Muholi. Courtesy of Stevenson, Cape Town/Johannesburg and Yancey Richardson, New York
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Thulani II, Parktown, 2015
Copyright Zanele Muholi. Courtesy of Stevenson, Cape Town/Johannesburg and Yancey Richardson, New York
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MaID I, Syracuse, 2015
Copyright Zanele Muholi. Courtesy of Stevenson, Cape Town/Johannesburg and Yancey Richardson, New York
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Bona, Charlottesville, 2015
Copyright Zanele Muholi. Courtesy of Stevenson, Cape Town/Johannesburg and Yancey Richardson, New York
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Credits
- Photography: From the series 'Somnyama Ngonyama.' © Zanele Muholi. Courtesy of Stevenson, Cape Town/Johannesburg and Yancey Richardson, New York
- Artist website: www.stevenson.info
- Text: Nicole Segers & Bart Luirink with thanks to Stevenson, Cape Town
- Quote: The New York Times Magazine, Oct. 8 2015
- Editor: Christina Månsson for ZAM
- Curator: Nicole Segers for ZAM, June 2016. Read her motivation here.
- Want to buy work by Zanele Muholi. Click here
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