Zanele Muholi Releases New Book of Photography
Images – Bangizwenkosi, The Sails, Durban, 2019; Qiniso, The Sails, Durban, 2019; Lena, London, 2018 – by Zanele Muholi
The second volume of internationally acclaimed South African queer artist Zanele Muholi’s self-portrait series, Somnyama Ngonyama, Hail the Dark Lioness, has been released.
The first edition of Somnyama Ngonyama, Hail the Dark Lioness, described as “a powerful statement of resistance,” won the 2019 Kraszna-Krausz Foundation award for best photography book.
In Volume II, Zanele Muholi explores and expands upon new personas and poetic interpretations of personhood, queerness, blackness, and the possibilities of self.
Since the publication of the first volume in 2018, Muholi has continued to photograph theirself in a range of new international locations.
Drawing on material props found in each environment, Muholi boldly explores their own image and the innate possibilities of being Black in today’s global society, while emphatically responding to contemporary and historical racism.
Renée Mussai, curator and historian, has brought together written contributions from over ten curators, poets, and authors, creating a poetic and experimental framework that extends the idea of speculative futures and the potentiality of multivalent selves.
The collection further amplifies Muholi’s expressive and radical manifesto. As they stated in the first volume, “My practice as a visual activist looks at Black resistance—existence as well as insistence.”
Muholi is best known not only for their Somnyama Ngonyama series, where they use their body as a canvas to confront the politics of race, the Black Lives Matter movement, and representation in the visual archive, but also for Faces and Phases, where they document the history of Black lesbians and transgender individuals.
These works have been widely exhibited around the world at major museums and galleries, including the Tate Modern in London, the Ethelbert Cooper Gallery of African American Art at Harvard University in Boston, and the Venice Biennale.
Born in Umlazi, South Africa, Muholi has received numerous prizes and recognition for their work and activism, including France’s Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, Glamour Woman of the Year, Infinity Award, and the Prince Claus and Ryerson Alumni Achievement Award, among others.
Hail the Dark Lioness, Volume II is 172 pages, in English, and published by Aperture. It’s available from online retailers including Amazon and Exclusive Books.
Viva Muholi!