QUEERCIRCLE, in collaboration with The Common Press and the Muholi Art Institute, is proud to present Faces and Phases: UK 2025, a landmark exhibition by internationally acclaimed South African photographer and visual activist Zanele Muholi.

The exhibition opens with a public launch event on 14 October 2025 (6–9 PM) in the presence of the artist and a number of special guests. Opening during Black History Month, the exhibition marks the first full presentation of the UK iteration of Muholi’s long-running project Faces & Phases. The show offers an important moment to celebrate and reflect on Black queer life, resistance and creativity.

Muholi’s latest exhibition brings together 100 portraits of Black queer women, non-binary and trans members of the UK community who demand to be seen, with stories that refuse erasure. The archive embodies visibility, storytelling and solidarity - resisting erasure while celebrating resilience. Each image forms part of Muholi’s radical and ongoing archive, Faces and Phases, a project initiated by Muholi in 2006 to document and honour the lives of Black queer and trans communities worldwide, through powerful portraiture. Nearly two decades on, Faces and Phases continues as a living testimony to Black queer presence across generations and borders.

Inside the gallery, the portraits are accompanied by video recordings from those photographed and a curated selection of books from The Common Press, London’s intersectional queer bookshop café. Visitors are invited not only to look, but to rest, to listen and to connect with friends and allies, both old and new. 

Alongside Zanele Muholi, the evening will include contributions from Aisha Shaibu-Lenoir, Vernon Pienaar, Khadijatou Doyneh and SCARBA. Together, this group represents a cross-section of creative practices - spanning visual art, film, music, literature, spoken word, and DJ culture - that embody the spirit of Faces and Phases. Their presence underscores the exhibition’s commitment to community, collaboration and celebration, ensuring that the launch night is as much a gathering of people as it is a presentation of work.

In addition to the exhibition runs a free public programme at QUEERCIRCLE which spans talks, workshops, study groups and performances. Together with The Common Press and the Muholi Art Institute, QUEERCIRCLE ensures the project not only celebrates visibility but also builds spaces of learning, exchange and solidarity.

In a moment when trans lives are increasingly targeted by state policies and hostile rhetoric, and against a backdrop of racist, anti-immigration protests across the UK, Faces and Phases becomes a site of reverence and resistance, a vital contribution to this year’s Black History Month, held and shaped through community collaboration.