2010

May

QUEER MALAWI project

Queer Malawi: Untold Stories . This groundbreaking book offers vivid portraits of the lives of homosexual men and women in Malawi and speaks to the concerns of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people on the African continent. The stories in this book portray the joys of love and the heartache of rejection, the dangers posed by homophobia and hatred in communities, and the sublime comfort of close friends and relatives.

The stories are intended to invoke compassion and support for the rights of African LGBTI people to live freely and harmoniously alongside their heterosexual counterparts in Malawi and beyond her borders.

“When we look back over the last three years we see that Africa has allowed conservative political interests to oppress LGBTI people”, say Fikile Vilakazi, the director of the Coalition for African Lesbians, “This book – Queer Malawi – is to be applauded for making the homosexual voices of male and female Malawian nationals audible for all Africans to hear. It is through ordinary peoples' stories that we are able to reconnect with our shared sense of humanity.”

Related articles

19 Dec. 2010 CITY PRESS

We're here. We're queer. Get used to it!

4 Dec. 2010 RAPPORT

Skadumense in Malawi kry stem

2010

8-16 April (Opening night 14 April 5-7pm)

MUHOLI / B(L)ACK
MOYS / THE PLAYING FIELDS

Opened by Kevin Murray
Adjunct Professor, RMIT University
Research Fellow, Melbourne University
Adjunct Research Fellow,
Monash University

2010 January

Allegheny College, Meadville, US. Artist talk as part of InBetween exhibition

Exhibit focuses on gender, sexuality, identity

Article: By CORTNEY O'BRIEN
Photos by Amelia Conte/The Campus

Some people collect coins. Others, baseball cards. South African artist Zanele Muholi, however, collects panties. Her “delicate” display was one of several aimed at challenging traditional social identities in the “In Between” art exhibit.

Part of the Year of Social Change, “In Between,” curated by Assistant Professor of Communication Arts Emily Yochim, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies Vika Gardner and Assistant Professor of Art and Gallery Director Darren Miller, opened Tuesday night to a crowd full of students, professors and other gallery visitors.

Read more...

Fall 2009

Public Lecture

Art History Lecture Series: Zanele Muholi

Thursday, Oct 8 5:00p at University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX

Lectures on Art in the Black Diaspora: Locating the 'Universal' in the 'Specific'?
Zanele Muholi presents "so they have 'eyes to see'"
Location: Art Building (ART) 1.102

Related links

Winter 2009

Chroma Journal - Issue 8
A queer literary journal

The issue of Chroma features work by the acclaimed South African photographer, Zanele Muholi, depicting loving images of black lesbian couples in South Africa. And of course, more well-written and badly-behaved pieces that make you think.
www.divadirect.co.uk/clearance

www. chromajournal .co.uk


Cover photo:
Thembi Nyoka, Johannesburg (2007)

From Faces and Phases series, in which I continue to document and explore black lesbian identities through portraiture, where the participants are photographed in their various domiciles. One of our collective painful experiences as a community is the loss of friends and acquaintances through disease or hate crimes. Some of these participated in my visual projects. What is left behind now is the individuals' portraits that works as a site of memory for us, as a trace of 'who and what existed' in a particular space at this particular moment when our black lesbian and South African histories intersect.

Spring 2009

www.spenational.org/ exposure/index.html



Cover photo:
Apinda Mpako & Ayanda Magudulela, Johannesburg (2007)

From Being series, showcases images of black lesbian couples ... dealing with various issues in their communities...in a democratic country that legalized same sex marriages in 2005 (Civil Union Act)...

Fall 2009

WAT JE BENT ZEG JE ZELF

Conventies komen in het woordeboek van Zanele Muholi niet voor. Met haar 'visueel activisme' ondermijnt de Zuid-Afrikaanse fotografe elk stereotiep dat op ons netvlies is vastgeroest. Want dat sommige mannen eruit zien als vrouwen en sommige vrouwen als mannen - dat denken we maar. Aanvankelijk reageerde Muholi met haar portrettenserie in zwart-wit op het geweld tegen zwarte, lesbische vrouwen en transgenders in haar land. Toen vreemdelingenhaat ruim een jaar terug tot heftige onlusten in Kaapstad en Johannesburg leidde, voegden zich al snel vrouwn en transgenders uit andere Afrikaanse landen, soms elders in de wereld leven, Muholi's serie. Zo zal dit work in progress blijven reageren op die incidenten die voortspruiten uit het onvermogen om de ander te kunnen plaatsen. Met de publicatie van Muholi's werk staat ZAM ook stil bij de prestaties van Zuid-Afrikaanse hardloopster Caster Semenya, die mend ontzagwekkende snelheid miljoen oogkleppen aan stukken rende.


Cover photo:
Ms D'vine, Johannesburg (2007)

From Ms D'vine series, portrait of a effeminate gay man who perform as a drag queen artists in many queer bars of Gauteng.
In this particular Zam issue also features 5 portraits from Faces & Phases series captured in 2008-9.