The Polygon Podcast - Episode 19 featuring Zanele Muholi, John Fleetwood and Missla Libsekal
The 19th episode of The Polygon Podcast is an intimate, personal conversation between Zanele Muholi, John Fleetwood and Missla Libsekal. The conversation focuses on Muholi’s activist work over the years, the power of portraiture and the photographic image, at a time when queer and trans lives are under violent threat in South Africa. Muholi’s work was featured in the Polygon Gallery’s exhibition Interior Infinite in September 2021.
The podcast is available here and on iTunes, Spotify and Google Podcasts.
About Zanele Muholi
Zanele Muholi is one of the most acclaimed photographers working today. They studied Advanced Photography at the Market Photo Workshop in Newtown, Johannesburg, and in 2009 completed an MFA: Documentary Media at Ryerson University, Toronto. Muholi has won numerous awards including the ICP Infnity Award for Documentary and Photojournalism (2016); Africa’Sout! Courage and Creativity Award (2016); the Outstanding International Alumni Award from Ryerson University (2016); the Fine Prize for an emerging artist at the 2013 Carnegie International; and a Prince Claus Award (2013), among others. Muholi’s work has been exhibited at Documenta 13; the South African Pavilion at the 55th Venice Biennale; and the 29th São Paulo Biennale. Muholi was shortlisted for the 2015 Deutsche Börse Photography Prize for their publication Faces and Phases 2006-14 (Steidl/The Walther Collection). They are an Honorary Professor at the University of the Arts/Hochschule für Künste Bremen.
About John Fleetwood
John Fleetwood is a photography curator and educator and director of Photo. He was born and lives in Johannesburg. Fleetwood has curated numerous exhibitions including recently Intimacy and Resistance (part of the Photobook Week Aarhus, Denmark, 2020)’, Five Photographers: A tribute to David Goldblatt (Johannesburg, Maputo, Durban, Bamako et al.; 2018-2019); Of traps and tropes (Kerkennah, Tunisia; 2018); A Return to Elsewhere (Johannesburg, Brighton Photo Biennale; 2014); Transition (Johannesburg, Arles; 2012-2013). In 2017, he was guest editor for Aperture’s Platform Africa edition.
About Missla Libsekal
Missla Libsekal is an independent writer, curator and cultural producer. In 2010 and ahead of the curve, she founded Another Africa, a much-needed digital platform and safe space to give agency to African and Diasporic voices. Operating until 2016, it became a leading destination for this sector, publishing content from a myriad of contributors. With a view on publishing not merely as an act of documentation, but also as a means of inquiry in its own right, her practice developed from an exploration of the technical and artistic possibilities of storytelling made possible through a digital medium.
About Polygon Gallery
Situated on the unceded territories of the Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), səl̓ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), and xwməθkwəýəm (Musqueam) Nations, The Polygon Gallery is a vibrant art institution that inspires and provokes cultural insight through adventurous programming. The Gallery is committed to championing artists and cultivating engaged audiences. Its lens of inquiry creatively responds to shifting perceptions of the world, through the histories and evolving technologies of photography and related media.
The Polygon is committed to the development of lens-based practices and to creating pathways for new voices within the medium, particularly as it works to articulate new narratives from artists traditionally outside the Eurocentric standard of many art galleries. Importantly, The Polygon prioritizes the presentation of work by artists who reflect the diversity of its community. Of primary importance, the Gallery continues to expand its engagement with Indigenous communities, particularly the Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations.
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Posted 8/12/2021.