Zanele Muholi, describing their mobile studios in Daveyton, South Africa. Production still from the Extended Play episode, “Zanele Muholi: Mobile Studios.” © Art21, Inc. 2019.

“It’s my own way of writing South African LGBTI history. So I don’t want to be limited by anything. I don’t want to be in any studio. I want to be unplugged.”

In a new film from our Extended Play series, visual activist Zanele Muholi explains the impetus behind creating what they call “mobile studios” to photograph members of the LGBTI community in South Africa. Freed from the limitations of a single studio space, Muholi travels to the homes and community spaces shared by the people depicted in their photographs. As a way to create work in which the participants feel most comfortable, these mobile studios allow Muholi to empower those around them.

This is the second in a series of five new Art21 films premiering throughout Spring/Summer 2019.

Watch now!