You’re invited: Faces and Phases book launch party.
Join us at The Common Press Dalston on Monday 9 November, 6:30pm–10pm, to celebrate Zanele Muholi’s Faces and Phases 2006–2026, published by MACK.
After years of collaboration between Zanele Muholi, Aisha Shaibu-Lenoir (The Common Press) and the UK Faces and Phases participants, we’re proud to see our community represented in this new book. The UK archive now includes portraits of 100 Black queer, non-binary and trans participants, a living archive of our lives, identities and stories.
Following UK exhibitions at Tate and QUEERCIRCLE, and international exhibitions in France, Brazil, Italy, the USA and Portugal, with work currently showing in Amsterdam, this gathering celebrates the people and relationships at the heart of the project.
Marking twenty years of Muholi’s visual activism, the book brings together more than 300 largely unpublished photographs from South Africa and beyond, including London, São Paulo, Porto and Los Angeles. Portraits sit alongside personal testimonies, allowing participants to share their experiences in their own words and on their own terms.
Edited by Renée Mussai, the volume features an extended interview with the artist and more than thirty-five texts and testimonies. These include new essays by Lola Olufemi, Renée Mussai, Briona S. Jones, Thulile Gamedze, Babalwa Tyabashe-Phume and Donna A M Smith, alongside short contributions from Barby Asante, Skye Chirape, Imani Mason Jordan, Myah Asha Jeffers, Aisha Shaibu-Lenoir, Dorothea Smartt, Christie van Zyl, Lemara Lindsay-Price and Lesego Tlhwale, among many others whom are participants, collaborators and long-term allies.
Together, these voices and images form an evolving record of Black LGBTQIA+ existence, resistance and kinship.
Come celebrate this milestone with us, honouring those who have helped build this living archive and the stories we continue to make together.
- Doors open at 6:30pm
- Speeches and archival updates from 7:15pm
- Book signing from 7:45pm
- Network and social until 10pm
The Common Press is not currently fully wheelchair accessible. This event will take place on the wheelchair-accessible ground floor, but there is currently no wheelchair-accessible toilet.
We are committed to improving accessibility throughout the space. If this affects your visit, please contact us before the event so we can confirm the latest layout and discuss how we can support you.