Zanele Muholi “Somnyama Ngonyama (Hail the Dark Lioness)”

Forum Kyoto

Image: "Bester 1, Mayotte" Zanele Muholi (2015) © Zanele/Stevenson/Yancey Richardson

This event has ended.

Openly lesbian South Africa-based visual activist Zanele Muholi strives to revolutionize social awareness through her art. In Somnyama Ngonyama (“Hail the Dark Lioness” in her native Zulu), she overturns discrimination and defeatism to celebrate black women. Her chosen method is self-portraits adorned with household items, as if to suggest daily chores.
In Bester 1, Mayotte (2015), she appears in blackface with clothespins on her hair and ears, a grim parody of the mandatory ID cards carried by countless black women who, like her own mother, did menial housework in white homes during the apartheid years. With no formal education, these women proudly managed to raise strong children. Her photographs engage this dark history with courage and verve.

* This exhibition is part of the Kyotographie International Photography Festival.

[Related Events]

Masterclass Zanele Muholi: On Self-Representation.
Date: Apr.16 (Sun) 9:30-12:30

In Conversation with Zanele Muholi with Claude Grunitzky
Date: Apr.15 (Sat) 13:00-14:30

Please refer to the official site for further details.