SIBANINGI | Celebrating 20 Years of Faces and Phases

Exhibition Opening: 17 October 2026
Market Photo Workshop | Newtown, Johannesburg

On Saturday, 17 October 2026, the Muholi Art Institute (MAI) officially opened SIBANINGI at the Market Photo Workshop in Newtown, Johannesburg, commemorating 20 years of Prof. Zanele Muholi’s groundbreaking photographic series, Faces and Phases.

The opening brought together participants, collaborators, friends, supporters and members of the public to honour two decades of visual activism, collective memory and the ongoing work of documenting Black LGBTQIA+ lives and histories.

Although Muholi was in Paris, they joined the gathering virtually via Zoom, remaining connected to the community and the occasion from afar.

The significance of SIBANINGI extends beyond the celebration of a photographic milestone. Presenting the exhibition at the Market Photo Workshop, where Muholi studied photography, brings two decades of their visual activism into direct conversation with an institution that helped shape their early practice. It is particularly meaningful that some of the participants documented in Faces and Phases are themselves connected to the institution, reinforcing the relationships between photography, education, community and the people whose experiences give the archive its purpose.

Since its inception in 2006, Faces and Phases has grown into an extensive and evolving visual archive that challenges the historical exclusion and erasure of Black LGBTQIA+ people from mainstream narratives. Through portraiture and sustained engagement with participants, Muholi has worked to ensure that lives too often marginalised or overlooked are documented with dignity, visibility and a sense of belonging.

Twenty years later, SIBANINGI stands as both a reflection on what has been achieved and a reminder of the work that remains. The exhibition speaks to the importance of documenting our own histories, recognising those who came before us and ensuring that future generations inherit an archive in which they can see themselves.

For the Muholi Art Institute, this exhibition is not simply about looking back. It is about honouring the people who have made Faces and Phases possible, acknowledging the communities that continue to sustain it, and reaffirming a commitment to visual activism as a means of education, advocacy and social change.

The archive continues. The stories matter. And the people remain at its centre.

SIBANINGI is open to the public until 5 December 2026 at the Market Photo Workshop, 138 Lilian Ngoyi Street, Newtown, Johannesburg.