Zanele Muholi | Autoportraits: Speaking to Politics of Self

The Center for African Studies, Producing Knowledge in and of Africa, the Cantor Arts Center, and Stanford Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Stanford University present an artist talk by Zanele Muholi.

Muholi will reflect on their own practice of auto portraiture, examining questions of visibility, access, privilege, and power in the creation of images. They will also extend their discussion to thinking about these issues in the context of the production of knowledge in the university. To whom, and for whom, is knowledge being produced, and who owns and benefits from it?

Muholi is a South African visual activist and photographer. For over a decade they have documented black lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people’s lives in various townships in South Africa. Responding to the continuing discrimination and violence faced by the LGBTI community, in 2006 Muholi embarked on an ongoing project, Faces and Phases, in which they depict black lesbian and transgender individuals. Muholi’s self-proclaimed mission is "to re-write a black queer and trans visual history of South Africa for the world to know of our resistance and existence at the height of hate crimes in SA and beyond." These arresting portraits are part of Muholi’s contribution towards a more democratic and representative South African homosexual history. Through this positive imagery, Muholi hopes to offset the stigma and negativity attached to queer identity in African society.

All public programs at the Cantor Arts Center are always free! Space for this program is limited; advance registration is recommended. Those who have registered will have priority for seating.

________

Accessibility Information or Requests

Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University is committed to ensuring our programs are accessible to everyone. To request access information and/or accommodations for this event, please complete this form at least one week prior to the event: museum.stanford.edu/access.

For questions, please contact disability.access [at] stanford.edu (disability[dot]access[at]stanford[dot]edu) or Kwang-Mi Ro, kwangmi8 [at] stanford.edu (kwangmi8[at]stanford[dot]edu), (650) 723-3469.

Connect with the Cantor Arts Center! Subscribe to our mailing list and follow us on Instagram.

________

Image: Zanele Muholi, Bester IX, Philadelphia, 2018, from the series Somnyama Ngonyama © Zanele Muholi. Courtesy of the artist and Yancey Richardson, New York.