Zanele Muholi Takes Over The Arts Space With Somnyama Ngonyama Book!

“I am producing this photographic document to encourage people to use artistic tools such as cameras as weapons to fight back.” - Sir. Zanele Muholi 

Internationally renowned, Professor/Sir Zanele Muholi who's recently published a book entitled Somnyama Ngonyama, Hail the Dark Lioness published by Aperture, already a best seller and a winner of the Lucie Award Book Publisher of the year is heading to PARIS PHOTO for book signing. 

Somnyama Ngonyama book has recently been launched in Johannesburg, New York and Oslo. More cities around the world are to follow, but for now, visual activist and photographer is heading to one of the biggest art fair's in the world which is set to take place from the 8th till the 11th of November in the city of love, Paris. Zanele Muholi: Somnyama Ngonyama, Hail the Dark Lioness (Aperture) includes one hundred self-portraits created by Muholi who happens to be one of the most powerful visual activists of our time.

In this project, each image Muholi drafts material props from their immediate environment in an effort to reflect their journey, explore their own image and possibilities as a black person in today’s global society, and most important to speak emphatically in response to contemporary and historical racism, as they state.

Talking about Somnyama Ngonyama, Hail the Dark Lioness, Muholi says; “I am producing this photographic document to encourage people to be brave enough to occupy spaces, brave enough to create without fear of being vilified. To teach people about our history, to re-think what history is all about, to re-claim it for ourselves, to encourage people to use artistic tools such as cameras as weapons to fight back.” 

Muholi also collaborated with more than twenty curators, poets, and authors  that draw out the layers of meaning and possible readings to accompany selected images.

Follow @muholizanele on Instagram to find out what they are currently up to. 

Quick Facts: 
Zanele Muholi Knighted by French Embassy. Honored with Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres

just after their Art/Afrique: Faces and Phases, Louis Vuitton Foundation exhibition in Paris.

Cover star for Art Review Summer 2017 (London)

Zanele Muholi at the Stedelijk Museum: They became the first black African photographer to have a solo show at Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam.

Zanele Muholi: Somnyama Ngonyama, Hail The Dark Lioness: Had a solo exhibition show at Autograph ABP, London.

Zanele Muholi Performa: Took over New York City while collaborating with South African LGBT artists, activists and allies. Touring New York City’s iconic Times Square with Somnyama Ngonyama billboards and digital screens, projected across seven subways in the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan.

2017 December and became a cover start for Art Africa with 10 page spread. 

Zanele Muholi Homecoming: Had her first solo show titled Homecoming in KZN at Durban Art Gallery which featured most of her art works ever in one gallery.

Zanele Muholi have was also awarded with the second Mbokodo Award in December 2017.

Muholi has been featured on the following publications: 365 Zanele Muholi protest, photographs on Guardian (London), British Journal of Photography Online (London), BBC – BBC Focus on Africa. The New Yorker (New York), The village Voice (New York), Vogue (New York) and many others.