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A major new exhibition by Zanele Muholi is set to open in Cape Town this month. The showing brings together more than 20 years of work from one of South Africa’s most celebrated contemporary artists.
Kanye Nawe opens at Southern Guild on Saturday, 18 July.
Hasselblad Award recipient
The exhibition follows a landmark year for the artist, who was named the recipient of the prestigious Hasselblad Award in 2026, often described as photography’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize.
Known as both a photographer and a visual activist, Zanele has spent decades documenting, preserving, and celebrating black LGBTQIA+ lives while confronting the prejudice, violence, and historical erasure many communities continue to face.
Their work has been exhibited around the world and has received numerous international honours, but their roots remain firmly planted in South Africa.
The title, Kanye Nawe, translates from isiZulu as “with you”, “alongside you” or “oneness”. It’s a fitting name for an exhibition built around connection, shared experience, and collective memory.
Landmark exhibition
The show also arrives at a pivotal historical moment. It marks 20 years since Zanele began the groundbreaking Faces and Phases project, 20 years since South Africa’s Civil Union Act legalised same-sex marriage, and 30 years since the country’s Constitution came into effect.
Together, those milestones frame an exhibition that reflects on both personal and national journeys.
A global archive
At the heart of Kanye Nawe is Faces and Phases, widely regarded as one of the world’s most important visual archives of black LGBTQIA+ lives.
Zanele began the portrait series in 2006 in response to the violence and discrimination experienced by black queer communities in South Africa.
What started as a local documentary project has grown into a global archive. The Cape Town exhibition brings together some of the earliest portraits taken in South Africa alongside more recent photographs created in cities including London, Los Angeles, Venice, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Porto, and Panama City.
The result is a living record of resilience, identity, and belonging that continues to expand across borders.
Alongside these community portraits are works from several of Zanele’s acclaimed photographic series, including Only Half the Picture, Being, Mo(u)rning, LiZa, and ZaVa.
These intimate images shift the focus from public activism to private moments, exploring love, grief, desire, and vulnerability while celebrating queer relationships as spaces of care, strength, and solidarity.
Visual journals
Visitors will also encounter new additions to Zanele’s internationally recognised self-portrait series Somnyama Ngonyama (Hail the Dark Lioness).
In these striking portraits, the artist turns the camera on themself, using self-portraiture to examine race, gender, labour, sexuality, and representation.
Created during travels for exhibitions, research, and artist residencies, each portrait responds to a different place and moment.
Rather than documenting appearances, the photographs function as visual journals, transforming everyday objects and surroundings into layered reflections on identity and history.
More info
- Date: Saturday, 18 July - Thursday, 10 September, 2026
- Location: Southern Guild Cape Town
- Visit: www.southernguild.com
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