Photographer and textile artist Zanele Muholi addressed the complexities of categorisation and their evolving creative practice during a recent discussion on their latest work and enduring influences. Known globally for visual activism that documents Black LGBTQIA+ lives, Muholi spoke on the frustration of enduring institutional labels and how those designations intersect with contemporary artistic output.
Challenging Institutional Labels and Categorisation
For years, galleries and critics have attempted to box Muholi’s expansive body of work into rigid definitions, often separating their output into strict photography or textile categories. According to Muholi, these reductive labels fail to capture the fluid reality of creative expression. The artist discussed how institutional gatekeepers frequently rely on familiar terminology to make sense of complex intersectional identities, which can ultimately limit how audiences engage with the work.
By blending photographic portraiture with tactile elements and textile sculptures, Muholi deliberately resists simple classification. Their recent projects incorporate handmade elements that require viewers to look past the surface of a two-dimensional image and consider the physical labor and material history embedded in each piece.
Creative Influences and Material Exploration
Muholi’s recent shift toward incorporating textiles stems from a desire to expand the visual vocabulary of their archive. Drawing inspiration from everyday materials, communal spaces, and the rich history of African craft, the artist uses fabric and thread to build upon themes of survival, intimacy, and resistance.
This material exploration allows Muholi to recontextualize familiar subjects, offering a deeper tactile dimension to portraiture. The artist noted that working with textiles introduces a new pace to their creative process, contrasting sharply with the immediate capture of the camera lens.
Current Projects and Unresolved Debates
As international exhibitions continue to feature Muholi’s multidisciplinary installations, discussions surrounding the boundaries between documentary photography and fine art sculpture persist within the contemporary art world. Institutions often struggle to market artists who move fluidly between mediums without adhering to traditional disciplinary boundaries.
Muholi’s ongoing work remains centered on self-representation and the reclamation of narrative space, leaving curators and critics to catch up with a practice that continually defies easy definition.
