On Stage Design Indaba 2014: Zanele Muholi

Zanele Muholi is a photographer and visual activist whose work shines a critical light on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) discrimination. Speaking against the backdrop of homophobia in Africa, Muholi encouraged the audience to help her oppose the recently instated Anti-Sexuality Bill in Uganda, which makes same-sex relationships illegal.

A firm believer in collaboration, Muholi showed a documentary to illustrate how she works. The video, We Live in Fear, is set in the Kwa-Thema informal settlement outside Johannesburg and reveals how LGBTI individuals and communities are targeted by hate crimes such as “curative rapes” and lesbian murders.

Zanele Muholi is a visual activist born in Umlazi, Durban, currently living in Johannesburg.