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The Women's Mobile Museum with Zanele Muholi

TILT Institute for the Contemporary Image
Zanele Muholi, Bester I, 2015, self portrait, Mayotte. Photo courtesy of the artist.
Zanele Muholi, Bester I, 2015, self portrait, Mayotte. Photo courtesy of the artist.
Zanele Muholi, Bona, 2015, self portrait, Charlottesville. Photo courtesy of the artist.
Zanele Muholi, Bona, 2015, self portrait, Charlottesville. Photo courtesy of the artist.
Zanele Muholi, Somnyama Ngonyama I, 2014, self portrait, Paris. Photo courtesy of the artist.
Zanele Muholi, Somnyama Ngonyama I, 2014, self portrait, Paris. Photo courtesy of the artist.
Zanele Muholi, Lungile Cleo Dladla, 2011, KwaThema Community Hall, Springs, Johannesburg. Part of the 8-year collaborative project Faces and Phases. Photo courtesy of the artist.
Zanele Muholi, Lungile Cleo Dladla, 2011, KwaThema Community Hall, Springs, Johannesburg. Part of the 8-year collaborative project Faces and Phases. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Philadelphia Photo Arts Center (now known as TILT Institute for the Contemporary Image) brought South African photographer Zanele Muholi to Philadelphia for an 18-month residency and exhibition considering questions of gender, identity, agency, and representation. Muholi’s first major US-based project, The Women's Mobile Museum reimagines a museum as a collaborative, mobile exhibition space “wherein women’s social and economic equity are a central tenet for the transformative experience of participants and audiences,” PPAC says. Muholi worked with a diverse group of 10 Philadelphia women to develop photography and visual storytelling skills that empowered the women to tell their own stories through self-portraits and portraits of women in the participants’ lives. Following the training period, the group prepared a temporary, transportable gallery that holds participants’ and Muholi’s work. The mobile museum has toured to community centers in Philadelphia’s Point Breeze and Juniata Park neighborhoods, inviting the public to see the work and engage with the artists. The project culminated in a 2019 exhibition at PPAC and an installation at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, encompassing the complete body of work produced during the residency and accompanied by a publication co-designed by the core artists.

Additional unrestricted funds are added to each grant for general operating support.
 

uestions of ractice
Zanele Muholi, Bester I, 2015, self portrait, Mayotte. Photo courtesy of the artist.
Video

Photographer Zanele Muholi on What it Means To Be a “Visual Activist”

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Zanele Muholi, Bester V, 2015, self portrait, Mayotte. Photo courtesy of the artist.
Video

Questions of Practice: Photographer Zanele Muholi on Museum Accessibility

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Recipient
TILT Institute for the Contemporary Image

TILT Institute for the Contemporary Image

TILT Institute for the Contemporary Image (formerly known as the Philadelphia Photo Arts Center) is an artist-focused institution centered on the importance of contemporary image-making as an ever-evolving art form. The organization offers exhibitions, events, educational programming, and residencies. TILT is a resource for both practicing artists as well as individuals interested in learning about all aspects of contemporary photography.

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News

The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage Announces 2017 Grants for Philadelphia Artists, Organizations

Jun 19, 2017
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