In 2024 it still feels like a treat to attend a large scale show at the Tate Modern. Zanele Muholi’s first major exhibition at the Tate was first partly exhibited in 2020/21, during the pandemic. It was for obvious reasons, a short run, and this major display is a more comprehensive visual exploration of the artist’s life and work. Community is at the heart of Muholi’s work and through their large, imposing self-portraits and photos of their friends and associates, we are introduced into a world of South Africa’s black queer, gay, intersex and trans lives; those who are often invisible to the mainstream.
A section on their early street photography, of ordinary black South Africans hanging out in their neighbourhoods, as well as different responses to their various provocative works, reminds me how long their journey has been. Muholi, who identifies as non-binary, first began as a street photographer, honing their skills through workshops, like the ones led by the late, great South African photographer David Goldblatt, who became a mentor. It was then, sometime around the 2000s, that I first discovered Muholi’s work; simply because they seemed to be, at the time, one of the few black photographers from South Africa to receive any kind of recognition outside of the continent. Their arresting self-portraits, now their most famous works of art, soon followed.
In this exhibition we are reminded that at the heart of it all lies a grassroots photographer, happiest when giving a voice to the marginalised community from which they have emerged. Themes of queerness and colonialism are explored, with Muholi often challenging the idea of homosexuality as a Western colonial export to Africa, using history and myth for emphasis.
It’s an enthralling journey through South Africa’s past, present and future. I felt like I’d like I’d learned so much by the end of the exhibition, but still know so little. It’s a must-see show.
Zanele Muholi at The Tate Modern, until 26 January 2025