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Zanele Muholi: Somnyama Ngonyama, Hail the Dark Lioness

New Art Exchange, 39-41 Gregory Boulevard, Nottingham, NG7 6BE
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Zanele Muholi: Somnyama Ngonyama, Hail the Dark Lioness

About

New Art Exchange
28 April – 24 June 2018

Free

In this touring exhibition by Autograph ABP, South African visual activist Zanele Muholi presents their ongoing self-portrait series Somnyama Ngonyama (meaning Hail, the Dark Lioness in isiZulu, one of the eleven official languages in South Africa). The exhibition comprises more than 75 photographs with Muholi using their body as a canvas to confront the politics of race and representation in the visual archive.

"I'm reclaiming my blackness, which I feel is continuously performed by the privileged 'other'. My reality is that I do not mimic being black; it is my skin, and the experience of being black is deeply entrenched in me. Just like our ancestors, we live as black people 365 days a year, and we should speak without fear." Zanele Muholi

Taken primarily between 2014 and 2017, each portrait in Somnyama Ngonyama poses critical questions about social justice, human rights and contested representations of the black body. Muholi's self-reflective and psychologically charged portraits are unapologetic in their artistry as they explore different archetypes / personae and offer visual reflections inspired by personal experiences and socio-political events.

By increasing the contrast in the dark complexion of their skin, Muholi interrogates complex representations of blackness and being, beauty and desire. Gazing defiantly at the camera, Muholi continuously challenges the viewer's perceptions, while firmly asserting their cultural identity on their own terms.

Visit the launch party for this exhibition on Friday 27th April 2018 | 6 - 9pm

Gain an in-depth view of Muholi's ongoing self-portrait series with a curator's tour led by exhibition curator Renée Mussai on 17 May 2018. Please click here for more details.

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