Zanele Muholi (they them) is a visual activist, humanitarian and art practitioner whose work documents and celebrates the lives of Black LGBTQIA+ communities. Beginning in 2006, they responded to the continuing discrimination and violence faced by South Africa’s LGBTQIA+ community by photographing Black lesbian and transgender individuals, resulting in the ongoing portrait project, Faces and Phases. The more recent series Somnyama Ngonyama (Hail the Dark Lioness) shifts the lens, with Muholi becoming both participant and image-maker. Their works have been exhibited at a number of international biennales, triennales and major art museums including Serralves Museum,Tate Modern, SFMoMA, MEP Paris, Kunstmuseum Luzern, Stedelijk Museum, Fotografiska (Stockholm and Shanghai), the Venice Biennale, dOCUMENTA (13), and the 29th São Paulo Biennial. Muholi received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Liège in Belgium, the ICP Spotlights Award and France’s Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, among many other accolades. Their 2025 solo exhibition at Southern Guild Los Angeles, Faces and Phases 19, expands on the original series, intimately documenting new subjects from Los Angeles, London, São Paolo and Salvador.

Kevin D. Dumouchelle (he/him) leads the curatorial department at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African Art. He is leading the museum’s Here Project, an initiative focusing on out artists making work in and about the African continent that will culminate in a major publication and exhibition, the first of its kind. Dumouchelle also leads the development of the museum’s critically lauded collection galleries. Previously, Dumouchelle served a decade at the Brooklyn Museum as the curator in charge of the arts of both Africa and the Pacific Islands where, among other projects, he led two critically lauded reinstallations of the collection and the New York monographic museum debut of the work of El Anatsui. He has written and produced exhibitions on a range of topics on both contemporary and historical African art, from focused single-artist shows to surveys connecting centuries and continents. Dumouchelle earned a PhD, MPhil, and MA in Art History and Archaeology from Columbia University.

Darnell L. Moore (he/him) is a writer and activist whose work is informed by anti-racist, feminist, Queer of colour, and anti-colonial thought and advocacy. He is the host and co-producer of the award-winning podcast Being Seen, and his memoir, No Ashes in the Fire: Coming of Age Black and Free in America, won the 2019 Lambda Literary Award for Best Memoir. Moore features as one of the participants in Faces and Phases 19.

Paul Mpagi Sepuya (he/him) is a Los Angeles-based artist working in photography. His work is in the collections of the Getty Museum, Guggenheim Museum, Hammer Museum, LACMA, MoMA, SFMoMA, the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Whitney Museum, the Stedelijk, Tate Modern, and Victoria & Albert Museum, among others. Museum surveys have been presented at CAM St. Louis and Nottingham Contemporary, and a major hybrid artist-book and monograph of the project Dark Room A - Z, was published by Aperture in Fall 2024. Sepuya is an Associate Professor in Visual Arts at UC San Diego.

Kim Alex Hall (she/her) is a Los Angeles-based actor and producer who created the six-episode series S.i.r, about sexuality, identity, friendship and relationships. She is the founder of MANDEM Studios Worldwide, a creative studio driven by community, wellness, creativity, and collaboration.Rooted in visibility and inclusivity, they create spaces, experiences, and products that celebrate and empower Queer individuals, masc-identifying individuals, and their allies. Through this, MANDEM Studios challenges stereotypes, fosters empowerment, and inspires groundbreaking work—redefining representation and driving meaningful change.