"This is not art; this is life. Each and every photograph is someone's biography." – Zanele Muholi

Faces and Phases is one of Zanele Muholi's central ongoing bodies of work (b. 1972, Umlazi, South Africa), a powerful photographic collection of portraits that makes queer and Black communities visible and preserves the stories of those who take part. Since the project began in 2006, hundreds of portraits have been created, together forming a collective, ever-expanding archive of identity, resistance, healing, and solidarity.

The new publication, released by MACK Books in September 2026, brings together new portraits, interviews, and texts. Zanele Muholi discusses the making and concept of the book with its editor, Renée Mussai (research-led curator, writer, and scholar).

Date: Sa, 19.9.2026, 4 p.m.
Cost: 5€ 
Language: English



Credits: Boitumelo Mnguni, KwaThema, Johannesburg, 2017. © Zanele Muholi. Courtesy of the artist, Yancey Richardson, New York, and Southern Guild, Cape Town