Zanele Muholi SOUTH AFRICA, b. 1972
Khwezi, Songhai Porto Novo, Benin, 2015
Silver gelatin print
3/8
3/8
19.7 x 13.4 inches
50 x 34 cm (image)
60 x 44 cm (paper)
50 x 34 cm (image)
60 x 44 cm (paper)
Edition of 8
Copyright The Artist
from the Somnyama Ngonyama series Drawn from a Zulu phrase meaning 'Hail, the Dark Lioness,' Somnyama Ngonyama uses stylized self-portraiture as a means to commemorate, question, and celebrate the ways...
from the Somnyama Ngonyama series
Drawn from a Zulu phrase meaning "Hail, the Dark Lioness," Somnyama Ngonyama uses stylized self-portraiture as a means to commemorate, question, and celebrate the ways the black body has been represented in photography. Augmented with shells, textiles, and other objects, the artist's diverse coiffures explore hair as symbolic primary material and a central facet of African identity and stylistic expression. An acknowledgement of South Africa's political history and a series of activist networks operating today in the country and elsewhere, Muholi's project comments on aesthetic and cultural issues that affect black people, and specifically black women, in Africa and its diaspora.
The Somnyama Ngonyama (Hail the Dark Lioness) series by Zanele Muholi is an ongoing body of work that currently comprises around 200 works as of late 2021. The series started around 2015 and is a continuous project of self-portraits. Key Aspects of the Series:Purpose:The series aims to confront racism, social injustice, and contested representations of the black body in media and mainstream spaces, according to Zanele Muholi.
Style: Muholi uses their own body as a canvas to explore identity politics, race, and Blackness. They employ dramatic contrasts, increasing the pitch blackness of their skin, and use everyday objects as props to create striking visual compositions.
Evolution: Somnyama Ngonyama is an ongoing series, with new works being added continuously, making the total number of pieces subject to change over time. Exhibitions:The series has been featured in major exhibitions worldwide, with some presenting upwards of 70 or 80 photographs, such as those at the Colby College Museum of Art and the Brooklyn Museum.
In Zanele Muholi's self-portrait series Somnyama Ngonyama, the persona Khwezi is an homage to Fezekile Ntsukela Kuzwayo, a queer woman who accused former South African President Jacob Zuma of rape in 2006. Kuzwayo, known publicly as Khwezi, was demonized by Zuma's supporters, forced into exile, and later died in 2016. In adopting the persona of Khwezi, Muholi uses their work to honor and re-center the narrative of a woman who was revictimized and silenced by a patriarchal and homophobic society. Key meanings of the Khwezi persona in Muholi's work include:Memorializing a figure of injustice. The image memorializes Kuzwayo as a symbol of the fight for gender justice and resistance against domestic violence, particularly within the context of the #RememberKhwezi movement.Confronting social brutality. By taking on the identity of Khwezi, Muholi challenges the oppressive societal structures that allowed a powerful man to escape accountability while destroying a woman's life.Reclaiming a narrative. The self-portrait is part of Muholi's larger project of visual activism, which aims to create a Black, queer, and trans visual history that asserts existence and resistance against hate crimes and violence.Empowering the marginalized. The photograph places the subject in a position of power and defiance, inverting the historical injustice by allowing Khwezi to confront the viewer on her own terms.
Drawn from a Zulu phrase meaning "Hail, the Dark Lioness," Somnyama Ngonyama uses stylized self-portraiture as a means to commemorate, question, and celebrate the ways the black body has been represented in photography. Augmented with shells, textiles, and other objects, the artist's diverse coiffures explore hair as symbolic primary material and a central facet of African identity and stylistic expression. An acknowledgement of South Africa's political history and a series of activist networks operating today in the country and elsewhere, Muholi's project comments on aesthetic and cultural issues that affect black people, and specifically black women, in Africa and its diaspora.
The Somnyama Ngonyama (Hail the Dark Lioness) series by Zanele Muholi is an ongoing body of work that currently comprises around 200 works as of late 2021. The series started around 2015 and is a continuous project of self-portraits. Key Aspects of the Series:Purpose:The series aims to confront racism, social injustice, and contested representations of the black body in media and mainstream spaces, according to Zanele Muholi.
Style: Muholi uses their own body as a canvas to explore identity politics, race, and Blackness. They employ dramatic contrasts, increasing the pitch blackness of their skin, and use everyday objects as props to create striking visual compositions.
Evolution: Somnyama Ngonyama is an ongoing series, with new works being added continuously, making the total number of pieces subject to change over time. Exhibitions:The series has been featured in major exhibitions worldwide, with some presenting upwards of 70 or 80 photographs, such as those at the Colby College Museum of Art and the Brooklyn Museum.
In Zanele Muholi's self-portrait series Somnyama Ngonyama, the persona Khwezi is an homage to Fezekile Ntsukela Kuzwayo, a queer woman who accused former South African President Jacob Zuma of rape in 2006. Kuzwayo, known publicly as Khwezi, was demonized by Zuma's supporters, forced into exile, and later died in 2016. In adopting the persona of Khwezi, Muholi uses their work to honor and re-center the narrative of a woman who was revictimized and silenced by a patriarchal and homophobic society. Key meanings of the Khwezi persona in Muholi's work include:Memorializing a figure of injustice. The image memorializes Kuzwayo as a symbol of the fight for gender justice and resistance against domestic violence, particularly within the context of the #RememberKhwezi movement.Confronting social brutality. By taking on the identity of Khwezi, Muholi challenges the oppressive societal structures that allowed a powerful man to escape accountability while destroying a woman's life.Reclaiming a narrative. The self-portrait is part of Muholi's larger project of visual activism, which aims to create a Black, queer, and trans visual history that asserts existence and resistance against hate crimes and violence.Empowering the marginalized. The photograph places the subject in a position of power and defiance, inverting the historical injustice by allowing Khwezi to confront the viewer on her own terms.
