Zanele Muholi

“Mapping Our Histories: A Visual History of Black Lesbians in Post-Apartheid South Africa” (n.d.)

If there is one purpose to my work, it is to undo our black lesbian underexposure and invisibility, and to resist the censorship and control that still exists over our bodies in South Africa due to the intersection of our colonial and Apartheid past. Present day queer, lesbian, and transphobic hate crimes are the consequences of this past and are felt deeply by us all. Ensuring that our collective visual narratives and imageries as black lesbians—especially those of us who come from marginalized spaces—form part of South Africa‘s national collective memory is a form of resistance. I /we will not be silent because it is the lives of our people that form our communities of lesbians, and I agree strongly with Joan E. Brien that without a visual identity we are left without support, community, and a movement. As such, creating visual space for our histories within the South African nation building project itself, and within the archival system of the nation, is significant. It is a risky and highly political act of resistance because the social pathologization of black and African lesbian desire, intimacy and relationships still causes our spirits and bodies to be violated and raped. My own long term vision as a visual and lesbian rights activist is to work towards creating a black lesbian archive in South Africa, one that is modeled after the Lesbian Herstory Archives in New York City, created by the lesbian feminist writer and activist Joan Nestle.

The paper is divided into 5 main parts. First, I will do a brief critical overview of our queer and lesbian history in South Africa in order to situate my work. Second, I will contextualize my work and the meaning of visual activism. Third, I will discuss and reflect on my methodological approaches to research and visual activism. Fourth, I discuss dissemination and distribution strategies. Fifth, I will reflect on the complexities of my roles as an activist, researcher, participant, artist and insider within the black lesbian community of South Africa. The questions I have been guided by are: Why do we need a black lesbian visual history? Who is it going to feature and whom is it going to serve? Who is the decision maker about what this history will look like? Where and how is it going to be accessed?” (5-6)

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