Category Archives: Reflections

2019 May 22: 25 years 25 artists Exhibition

By Mercury “When you are doing an interview that is the only time you reflect on yourself” said Professor Sir Zanele Muholi. This is how Muholi was feeling before the interview took place. Interviewed by Thobeka Bhengu and Lebo Mashifane … Continue reading

Posted in Exhibition, Exhibition opening, Exhibitions, Muholi Internship & Mentorship Programme, Muholi presentation, Muholi travel diaries, My name is Zanele Muholi, Reflection, Reflections, Text by Mercury, Text by Mercury Nonkululeko Duma, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

2019 April 28: Sebenza Durban Experience

by Wakhe Sebenza Day 1 Friday, 05 April 2019 A day filled with hope, solutions and the unexpected for Umbelebele secondary school If the misconception amongst parents in public schools that education is the responsibility of the school and the … Continue reading

Posted in "Free from My Happiness", "Sheshisa isikhathi siya hamba" by Sicka Shaz Mthunzi, Durban, From Durban to Johannesburg, Grades at schools, High school, Johannesburg comes to Durban, Reflection, Reflections, School, School of Image Arts, School uniforms, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

2015 July 10: How it all started

by Sharon “Sicka” Mthunzi It all started with a ‘selfie’ captured using my cell phone. I remember I used to look in the mirror with a phone on my left hand, and take pictures of myself. Before the birth of … Continue reading

Posted in Being, being loved, Bringing photography to the community, Commitment, Faces and Phases participant, hip-hop artist, Hope, Human Beings, I use CANON, I was (T)here, I was here, Life, Life is a production..., Life lived, Mamela Nyamza, Moments, Mr Les Daveyton 2013, Patience, Portraits of the Self, Portraiture series, Positive images, Power of the Voice, Powerful, Public spaces, Queer visibility, question of history., Re-presentation, Readings, Realities, Reality, Recognition, Recording, Reflections, Relationships, Remembering, Reminiscing, Representation, Respect, Respected person, Responsibility, revolution, Sameness, Scripted, Self, Self discovery, Self love, Self portraits, Self recognition, Self-worth, Sexual Liberation, Sexual orientation, Sexuality, Sharing, Sharing information, Sharing knowledge, Sharing thoughts, Silent voices, So much love, Solidarity, Solution, South Africa, South African townships, South African visual history through the eyes of young women, Speaking for ourselves, Statement, Strength, Supporting each other, Survived, Texts, Textualizing Our Own Lives, Together we can, Togetherness, Touching, Treasure, Trust, Understanding, Unique, Vision, Visual activism, Visual Arts, Visual democracy, Visual diaries, We Are You, We Care, We Still Can with/out Resources, Young Women and Visual Activism, Youth voices | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

2015 June 19: I use my body to express myself and break norms

I am Tshepo Seoketsi Mooketsi,  a first year Communication Sciences and Anthropology student at a South African University. I am an LGBTIQ Activist and a Trans feminist who hails from Schweizer Reneke a small rural town in the North West Province … Continue reading

Posted in Allies, Appreciation, Archived memories, Art is Queer, As we are, Before You, Colour, Confidence, Conform, Denigrate, Emotional support, Expression, Friendships, Human being, Injustices, LGBTIQ Activist, Life story, Living, Loving, Loving photographs, Manners, Myself, North West, Oppression, Perfect body, Platform, Political statement, Race, Reflections, Relationships, Societal, South Africa, Trans feminist, Unique, Words | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

2015 May 28: The last London supper

  by Dalisu Ngobese So the night we came to London for had come, with hugs, smiles and kisses on both cheeks the room was filled with anticipation and nerves started to show on Zanele’s laughter. A slight uneasiness that I’ve … Continue reading

Posted in Another Approach Is Possible, Archived memories, Archiving Queer Her/Histories in SA, Creating awareness, Expression, Memories, Memory, Moments in our history, My life in short, Naming, Networking, Open conversations, Open relationships, Organizing, Ownership of the self, Owning our bodies, Power of the Arts, Power of the Voice, Reflections, South Africa, Subject of Art, Thoughts, Touching, We Are You, We Care, We Still Can with/out Resources, Writing is a Right | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

2015 May 6: Photos from Queer Futures by Adejoke Tugbiyele

The Pen World Voices Festival of International Literature runs May 4-10. “Queer Futures” takes place Wednesday, May 6, 6–7:30 p.m. at the Sheen Center Loretto Auditorium, 18 Bleecker Street, New York City   Queer Futures panel moderated by Shireen Hassim featuring … Continue reading

Posted in Audience, From New York with love, Photographs, Photography as a therapy, Politics of existence, Positive images, Power of the Voice, Present, Queer Power, Queer texts, Queer visibility, Questioning, Questions and Answers, Re-presentation, Readings, Reality, Reason, ReClaim Your Activism, Records and histories, Reflections, Relationships, Relatives, Remembering, Speaking for ourselves, Texts, Touch | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

2015 Mar.3: A Letter to my Mother

by Sicka ‘Shaz’ Mthunzi Imbokodo is what she is, a mother that I love and respect more than anything in the world. She has the strength of 10 men and a heart full of life and love. She is my … Continue reading

Posted in Another Approach Is Possible, Archived memories, Creating awareness, Existence, Experience, Exploration, Exposure, Expression, Facilitation, Facing You, Faith, Families and Friends, Family, Homosexuality, Human Beings, Human rights, I Am, I am Somebody, I love photography, I was (T)here, Knowledge, Power of the Voice, Powerful, Queer visibility, question of history., Reality, Realization, Recognition, Recording, Records and histories, Reflections, Relationships, relative, Representation, Representing, Respect, Respect & Recognition from our community, Response, revolution, Self love, Self portraits, Self recognition, Sexual orientation, Sexuality, Sharing, Sharing information, Sharing knowledge, Sharing thoughts, Social responsibility, South Africa, Speaking for ourselves, Stories, Strength, Textualizing Our Own Lives, Together we can, Togetherness, Touch, Touching, Treasure, Voice, Warmth, We Are You, We Care, We love each other, We love photographs, We Love Photography, We Still Can with/out Resources, We were (t)here, Writing is a Right, Writing matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

2014 Dec.23: Two days before Christmas in Mafikeng

On this day we hired a car and drove to Mafikeng, North West to introduce the Faces and Phases (2006 -2014) book to some of the participants featuring in it and their friends. We also met new possible participants. The … Continue reading

Posted in ... with Lerato Dumse, 4 hrs drive from Johannesburg to Mafikeng, Another Approach Is Possible, Background, Being heard, Being Scene, Claiming mainstream spaces, Claiming the public spaces, Community visit, Difference, Different positions, Faces and Phases (2006-2014) introduction, Gay Umbrella, Inkanyiso media, North West, Records and histories, Reflections, Self acceptance, South Africa, Space, Together we can, We Are You, We Care, We love each other, We love photographs, We Love Photography, We Still Can with/out Resources, We were (t)here | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

2015 Jan. 3: I dropped out of the closet many times

“It is a story about my coming out, its more significant than any part of my life history” Being who I am should not compromise who you are. The road to coming out was not easy. I was born in … Continue reading

Posted in Another Approach Is Possible, Archived memories, Beatings, Creating awareness, Expression, Eyes, Face, Faces & Phases portraits, Faces and Phases (2006 - 2014), Gratitude, Gratitude to my lover, Inner feelings, Insulted, Interaction, Interpretation, Intervention, Irritation, Issues of sexuality, Knowledge, Language, Lesbian, Lessons learnt, Life, Life is a production..., Life lived, Life Stories, Life story, Live, Living, Living by example, Longing, Look at me, Loss to the black lesbian community, Lost Lives, Love is a human right, Love is Queer, Loved, Lovely words, Mainstream media, Mainstream spaces, Mainstreaming our queer issues, Making a mark, Memories, Moments, Moments in herstory, My body, My life in short, Nasty, Nature, Participants, Participation, Patience, Personification, Photo Expressions, Pleased, Political space, Politics of existence, Portraiture series, Power of the Voice, Powerful, Presentations, Pressure, Previous life stories, Privilege, Proud lesbian, Proud to be, Queer & Straights, Queer Africans speaking for themselves., Queer Power, Queer visibility, Queer Zimbabwe, Questions, Questions and Answers, Readers, Readings, Real, Reality, Realization, Reason, ReClaim Your Activism, Recognition, recognized, Recognizing the problem, Recording, Records and histories, Reflection, Reflections, Related links, Relationship, Relationship with own body, Relationships, relative, Relatives, Remembering, Reminiscing, Report, Representation, Representing, Resentments, Respect, Respect & Recognition from our community, Respected person, Response, Reviews, Reviving the culture of reading and writing, revolution, Rumours, safe, Scared, Scripted, Scriptures, Sexual orientation, Sexuality, Sharing, Sharing knowledge, Silence, Smile, Solidarity, Solution, South Africa, South African Black Female Photographers, South African townships, Speaking for ourselves, Statement, Straights, Struggles, Struggling, Suffered, Supporters, Supporting each other, Supportive friends and families, Survived, Teachings, Tears, Texts, Textualizing Our Own Lives, Thankful, Time, Timing, together, Together we can, Togetherness, Touching, Transformation, Transparency, Trust, Tshona is a Zimbabwean language, violation of rights, Violence, Visibility, Vision, Visual activism, Visual activism is a language, Visual democracy, Visual diaries, Visual historical initiative, Visual history, Visual history is a Right not a luxury, Visual Language, Visual narratives, Visual Power, Visual sense, Visual Voices, Visualizing our lives, Visualizing public spaces, Visuals, We Are You, We Care, We love photographs, We Love Photography, We Still Can with/out Resources, Weeping, When home is a crime scene, When Love is a Human Right, Where & Who is Justice?, Writing is a Right, Zimbabwe | 22 Comments

2014 Dec. 24: If things were going my way

Lebo Leptie Phume & Zanele Muholi interviewed some special friends about their Christmas wishes. I grew up celebrating Christmas because that’s what everyone was doing and it’s not like I had a choice not to celebrate it. Even though I … Continue reading

Posted in A new visual history, Abantu, Acceptance, Act, Acting, Articles, Articulation, Arts, Arts & Culture, As we are, Attention, Baring, Beautiful, Beautiful people, Beauty, Before US, Before You, Begging, Being, Being conscientized, Being heard, Black Queer & Gifted, Blackness, Bodies and histories, Captioned, Captured, Caring citizens, Celebration, Challenging the un-African homosexuality, Characters, Christmas wishes, Citizenship, Claiming, Collective, Collectivism, Comfort, Comment, Community, Connected souls, Connections, Consideration, Crea(c)tive senses, Creating awareness, Creative Writing, Cultural activists, Daring, Dedication, Delegation, Different positions, Edited, Education, Emotional support, Empowerment, Evidence, Excitement, Existence, Experience, Expertise, Exploration, Exposure, Expression, Facing You, Facts, Families, Families and Friends, Family support, Fantasy, Favourite, Featuring, Feelings, Festive season, Freedom, Freedom of being, Friends, Friendships, Give, Gratitude, Happiness, He(ART), History, Homosexuality, Honesty, Hope, Human Beings, I almost wished, I am not the only one, I am Somebody, I can't do it ALONE, I was (T)here, I was here, Imagined, Incredible, Independence, Individuals, Influenced, Inner feelings, Know Your SA Queer History, Knowledge, Language, Lebo Phume, Legacies of Existence, Lessons learnt, LGBT community, Liberation, Life, Life is a production..., Life lived, Life Stories, Live, Living, Living by example, Longing, Love, Love is a human right, Love is Queer, Loved, Lovers, Loving, Mainstreaming our queer issues, Memories, Mind, Mission, Moments, Moments in our history, Motivation, Naming, Patience, Perception, Power of the Voice, Powerful, Privilege, Queer Power, Queer South Africa, Queer texts, Queer visibility, Questions, Real, Reality, Reason, Recognition, recognized, Recording, Reflections, Relationship, Relationships, Remembering, Respected person, Respondents, Self-worth, Sexuality, Sexuality in South Africa, Sharing, Sharing knowledge, Sharing thoughts, Success, Visibility, Vision, Visual Power, Visual sense, Visual Voices, Visualizing public spaces, We Are You, We Care, We love each other, We Still Can with/out Resources, Wishing | Tagged , , | Leave a comment