Doctor honoris causa

Hundreds of LGBTQI+ community In recognition of the numerous achievements they have amassed, South African photographer and LGBTQ+ activist, Zanele Muholi has been awarded with an honorary doctoral degree from the University of Liége. The University of Liège, or ULiège, is a major public university of the French Community of Belgium founded in 1817 and based in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium.

Muholi is one of three recipients of an Honorary Doctoral Degree (Doctor honoris causa) to be awarded by the University of Liège in Belgium to mark the start of the new 2023-2024 academic year. They were honoured alongside French astrophysicist and philosopher, Aurélien Barrau, and French-American Nobel Prize-winning economist, Esther Duflo. The three recipients were chosen as a way for the university to “reconcile art and science and to commit to re-enchanting our world”.

Muholi’s work primarily focuses on raising awareness about the challenges faced by the LGBTQ+ community in South Africa and promoting visibility and representation and has been exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions worldwide. They have received several awards and honours for their work in photography and activism.

Muholi has previously received an Honorary Professorship from the University of the Arts/Hochschule für Künste Bremen (Germany) and their work is included in the collections of several prominent institutions, such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Tate Modern in London, and the Centre Pompidou in Paris.

In addition to awarding the doctorate, the Liége university hosted a conversation between Muholi, Florence Caeymaex (philosopher and Professor of Medical Ethics and Humanities), Anne-Françoise Lesuisse (curator and teacher) and Lyoz Bandie (photographer and a graduate of the Ecole Supérieure des Arts Saint-Luc-Liège).