29 March - 29 April 2006

Michael Stevenson is pleased to present an exhibition of photographs by Zanele Muholi, the winner of the 2005 Tollman Award. The exhibition coincides with the publication of a book of her photographs by Michael Stevenson and STE Publishers, with support from the French Institute (IFAS).

Trained at the Market Photo Workshop, Muholi came to national attention in September 2004 with her exhibition Visual Sexuality at the Johannesburg Art Gallery. Her work is without precedent in South Africa, where there are very few instances of black women openly portraying female same-sex practices. As a gender and sexual rights activist, and as a photographer, she confronts the notion that lesbian practices are alien to African cultures, and offers a radical break from stereotypical narratives about black female sexualities. She succeeds in transgressing the taboos surrounding black female same-sex practices because of her intimate relationships in these communities, negotiating the boundaries through trust and respect. Her photographs offer a view from the inside, a personal perspective on the challenges facing black lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people in the townships and other communities.

Muholi was born in Umlazi, Durban, in 1972 and lives in Johannesburg. She works as a community relations officer for the Forum for the Empowerment of Women (FEW), a black lesbian organisation which she co-founded. She has participated in a number of conferences and exhibitions including Gender and Visuality and Doing Gender at the University of the Western Cape; Visual Culture at the University of Pretoria; World Beyond Words at the Centre for African Studies, UCT; Sexual Rights and Moral Panics at the International Association for the Study of Sexuality, Culture and Society, California, United States; the Klein Karoo and Month of Photography festivals; and, most recently, the South African group exhibition Olvida Quien Soy - Erase me from who I am at the Centro Atlantico de Arte Moderna in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. She will present a solo exhibition at the Vienna Kunsthalle project space in April 2006.

1. ID crisis, 2003

2. Bra, 2003

3. Sistahs, 2003

4. Kiss, 2003

5. Comfort, 2003

6. Aftermath, 2004

7. Iphondo, 2003

8. Ordeal, 2003

9. Dada, 2003

10. Case number, 2004

11. Hate crime survivor I, 2004

12. Hate crime survivor II, 2004

13. In-security, 2003

14. What don't you see when you look at me I, 2004

15. What don't you see when you look at me II, 2004

16. Mamu, 2006

17. TommyBoys, 2004

18. Zol, 2002

19. not butch, but my legs are, 2005

20. Isibuko, 2005

21. Ekaya, 2005

22. Period II

23. Period IV

24. Period III

25. Period V

26. Period I

27. Untitled, 2006

28. Untitled, 2006

29. Isibuko II, 2005

30. Untitled, 2006

31. Untitled, 2006

32. Self, 2005

33. Independent, 2005

34. Status unknown, 2005

35. Damsel's planet, 2005

36. Untitled, 2006

37. Soul, 2006

38. Kiss me, 2005

39. Flesh I, 2005

40. Flesh II, 2005

41. Flesh III, 2005

42. Reclining figure, 2006

43. Beloved I, 2005

44. Beloved II, 2005

45. Beloved III, 2005

46. Beloved IV, 2005

47. Beloved V, 2005

48. Triple I, 2005

49. Triple II, 2005

50. Triple III, 2005

51. Untitled, 2006

52. Untitled, 2006

53. Closer to my heart I, 2005

54. Closer to my heart II, 2005

55. Closer to my heart III, 2005

56. Closer to my heart IV, 2005

57. Closer to my heart V, 2005