Zanele Muholi to be honoured at the ICP's 11th annual Spotlights benefit

Source: Bester VIII, Philadelphia, 2018. Courtesy of artist; Zanele Muholi, Stevenson & Yancey Richardson

Muholi will be honoured for their (they and them are Muholi's preferred pronouns) influence in the world of photography and visual culture.

Muholi’s work includes their widely exhibited series of Somnyama Ngonyama, which won the Kraszna-Krausz Foundation best photography book award in 2019.

International recognition

The ICP announced this on their social media pages.

"ICP is delighted to announce that Zanele will be the honoree at this year's ICP 11th annual Spotlights benefit in November! Founded in 2012, ICP Spotlights has spent ten years celebrating the immense talent of women image makers influencing the world of photography and visual culture. In its second decade and beyond, ICP looks forward to celebrating women, non-binary, trans, intersex, and other gender expansive image makers at ICP Spotlights," read the statement.

Somnyama Ngonyama, shows Muholi using their body as a canvas to confront the politics of race, the Black Lives Matter Movement, and representation in the visual archive together with Faces and Phases.

Canon Student Development Programme launches for 2022

1 Apr 2022

Muholi documents the history of Black lesbians and transgender individuals has been widely exhibited around the world at major museums and galleries including TATE Modern in London, UK, Ethelbert Cooper Gallery of African American Art at Harvard University in Boston, US, Seattle Art Museum, US, Autograph ABP, London, UK and Venice Biennale, Italy to name a few.

After many years of them personally training young women in photography and affording them an opportunity to pursue photography studies at Market Photo Workshop and Cape Town School of Photography, this year they opened a formal institution in Cape Town (Muholi Arts Institute - MAI) where the institute trains young photographers and houses various artists in residency from across the country to produce art.

ICP will host Muholi in conversation with Thelma Golden, director and chief curator of the Studio Museum in Harlem. The event will be open to the public with tickets available soon through the ICP's website.