The Amsterdam show unites new self-portraits from Muholi's ongoing Somnyama Ngonyama ("Hail the Dark Lioness") series with new paintings and a major presentation of Faces and Phases, marking twenty years of what stands as one of the most significant living archives of Black LGBTQIA+ life anywhere in the world. New portraits made with Amsterdam's Black queer community extend the archive back to the city where Muholi first began working with local participants in 2009.

"Hlanganani means Unite," Muholi explains. "It is a call to stand together, across race, gender, borders and histories... We are saying that our communities, wherever we are, belong to each other. No one should stand alone."

The exhibition arrives twenty years after Muholi began Faces and Phases in 2006 the same year South Africa became the first country in Africa to legalise same-sex marriage. Muholi's ties to Amsterdam run deep: a three-month residency at the Thami Mnyele Foundation in 2009 shaped early work including Being (T)here, and in 2017 the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam hosted their first solo museum exhibition in the Netherlands.

"Faces and Phases was never only about the photograph," Muholi reflects. "It was about making sure our people are seen, remembered and respected... Art is how we insist on our existence. It is how we protect each other."

Exhibition Details

• Title: Hlanganani – Unite

• Artist: Zanele Muholi

• Venue: Galerie Ron Mandos, Prinsengracht 282, Amsterdam

• Dates: 12 September – 1 November 2026

• Presented alongside: Muholi Art Institute (MAI)