Zanele Muholi

Muholi is a visual activist and photographer born in Umlazi, Durban, and living in Johannesburg. Muholi’s self-proclaimed mission is ‘to re-write a black queer and trans visual history of South Africa for the world to know of our resistance and existence at the height of hate crimes in SA and beyond. Muholi co-founded the Forum for Empowerment of Women (FEW) in 2002, and in 2009 founded Inkanyiso, a forum for queer and visual (activist) media. They continue to train and co-facilitate photography workshops for young women in the townships and run a Youth development programme around KwaZulu-Natal.

In 2020, they co-founded Bamu Arts Foundation that is trading as Muholi Arts projects. The project empowers local schools with tools that aid them in education, interactive learning, and teach visual arts to the youth within the communities of Durban. Foundation is self-funded by Muholi and partners and runs residencies for upcoming artists within South Africa.