Zanele Muholi’s Faces and Phases UK, in collaboration with The Common Press and the Muholi Art Institute, returns for its first solo exhibition at QUEERCIRCLE.

Join us on 14 October | 6 - 9 PM to experience the striking portraits captured by Zanele Muholi, featuring Black queer women, non-binary, and trans members of the UK community.

Register For the Opening 

Faces and Phases: UK 2025 is a powerful visual testimony of UK-based Black queers who demand to be seen, with stories that refuse erasure. It forms part of Muholi’s living archive, centering UK-based Black queer communities and weaving intergenerational and international solidarities into acts
of resistance and presence.

Faces and Phases is an ongoing radical archive of Black queer existence. Through photography and digital media, it documents lives and legacies, embodying visibility, storytelling, and the collective power to resist, endure, and thrive. This exhibition celebrates the strength of community and the transformative force of solidarity.

Inside the gallery, the portraits are accompanied by audio recordings from those photographed and a curated selection of books from The Common Press, London’s queer intersectional bookshop café. Visitors are invited not only to look, but to be—to rest, to listen, and to connect with friends and allies, both old and new. It is also an opportunity to network, learn about the UK-based project, and hear directly from some of the participants.

Zanele Muholi’s Faces and Phases began in 2006 as a living international archive, created to honour Black queer and trans communities worldwide through portraiture. Nearly two decades on, it continues to grow as a testament to presence, persistence, and the beauty of Black queer existence.

With words from:

Zanele Muholi, Aisha Shaibu-Lenoir, and special guests.