Zanele Muholi

Faces and Phases: Siyafana

Summer 2008/9: Projects (27 November - 10 January 2009)

Siyafana, which means 'we are the same', considers the similarities and differences within our 'black' race. Our creator might have fashioned each of us differently, but in his/her eyes we are the same species. Yet there are apparent differences and nuances that differentiate us from our neighbours.

It is this negotiation of sameness and difference that moved me to continue with my project Faces and Phases, where I captured photographs of different people in various countries. This had been a way of responding, out of frustration, to the ongoing violation, rape and murder of women (especially queers) in Africa because of our sexualities and ethnicities. I embarked on the Siyafana project at the height of the xenophobic and homophobic attacks in South Africa that have led to the mass displacement of people in my country. Many died, women were raped, even small babies became victims of hate crimes, regardless of the Constitution that stipulates equality and democracy for all. Far from home at the time, I was accommodated and embraced by strangers while residing in Toronto, Canada (which does not happen to everyone). I don't know what treatment my late Malawian father experienced at the hands of the past regime when he and his fellow men migrated to South Africa in the 1950s looking for greener pastures. However the reality was not greener for these 'Others'. Often they were left homeless without food and employment after their houses were burnt.

Featured in this series are beautiful, young and older human beings from various places, from Toronto to London, Johannesburg and Cape Town. One can't distinguish who is from where or how each person defines her/himself. From women to transmen to 'whatever' - people are people. Human beings deserve to be treated with love and respect, each and every one of us. My aim was to capture the subtle complexities that challenge our prejudices due to ignorance and hate. Even though we speak different languages, at the same time there are commonalities within our multiple identities - black/queer/women etc. Siyafana bo!