Ambassador Farnaud honours Zanele Muholi with France’s top cultural award

Ambassador Farnaud honours Zanele Muholi with France’s top cultural award

Basizeni XI, Cassilhaus, North Carolina, 2016 © Zanele Muholi. Courtesy of Stevenson, Cape Town/Johannesburg and Yancey Richardson, New York

On Wednesday 22 November 2017, the Ambassador of France to South Africa, H.E. Mr Christophe Farnaud, will host a reception in honour of visual activist Zanele Muholi, who will receive the insignia of Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres (Knight in the Order of Arts and Letters).

Muholi is an internationally acclaimed South African photographer. Born in 1972 in Umlazi, the artist’s_work is deeply intertwined with advocacy on behalf of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) community. 

Muholi cofounded the Forum for the Empowerment of Women (FEW) in 2002 and in 2009 founded Inkanyiso, a forum for queer and visual media.

The artist has produced a number of photographic series that investigate the severe disconnect in post apartheid South Africa between the equality promoted by the country’s constitution and the intolerance toward and violent acts targeting individuals within the LGBTI community.  

About the Order of the Arts and Letters:

The Order of Arts and Letters, established in 1957 by the French Minister of Culture, rewards those who, through their ongoing engagement and creativity, have helped develop the arts and literature in France and throughout the world. 

South Africans who have received the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres include dancer Gregory Maqoma and photographer David Goldblatt.

Members of the media are invited to attend the ceremony at 6.30pm at the Residence of France in Pretoria - 807 George Avenue, Arcadia.