Renowned South African transgender activist Yaya Mavundla presents the Black, Trans & Bold exhibition at the historical Women’s Jail, Constitution Hill to disrupt erasure and celebrate Transgender women for their bravery, boldness, resilience, and excellence. The exhibition opens on South Africa’s national Women’s Day, 09 August until 31 August 2023.

Yaya Mavundla, is a multi-award-winning transgender activist, disruptor and multi-disciplinary artist, who recently caused a social media stir as her images headlined Zanele Muholi’s exhibition in Lizern, Switzerland and used around the city on billboards. Yaya returned to South Africa to present her debut exhibition of her paintings, a solo show titled Black, Trans & Bold. Mavundla’s first-ever series of paintings are interpreted from her historical images meant to erase the oppression of transgender women that find themselves facing from time to time, and to celebrate their strength, resilience & boldness through art during South African Women’s Month.

In South Africa, many openly transgender women are unemployed and lack access to opportunities that are afforded to cis-heterosexual women in the country. Because of this, some trans women unwillingly end up in sex work, abusive relationships, and odd jobs for survival, which is what Mavundla escaped a few years back after being homeless and unable to make ends meet due to lack of opportunities. “I survived a lot, I survived death, I survived depression and mostly I survived losing me. I nearly gave up my passion for doing great things that I do now because there were no opportunities for someone like me and especially for me” says Mavundla.

With this exhibition, Mavundla who is known for her activism confronts the past experiences that saw her with unafforded opportunities that she deserved to her understanding, because of her gender identity, she is affirming herself and many other transgender women who find themselves in doubt of who they are and their worth.

Mavundla says the world preaches inclusion daily, she questions the true beneficiary of that initiative. She is determined to make sure that trans voices are heard and also to encourage Transgender people to choose themselves, see themselves, and validate themselves even if no one is doing so. “I grew up in an environment where there was no one like me, growing up in the deep areas of KwaZulu-Natal in Kranskop there was no Transgender person or openly queer person I could reference.”

“For many years I doubted my beauty and my strength, I believed I was not beautiful and worthy, people around me made me feel like I was not good enough and I was less worthy than the other people, even compared to transgender women and queer people around me,” says Mavundla speaking on erasure, inclusion, beauty, and gender politics.

Mavundla who is still struggling to face and openly speak about the traumatic experiences she went through during her time being homeless in the city of Johannesburg hopes to encourage other queer people to know it is never their fault and also they must understand that sometimes you will face such situations and challenges alone, no one will want to associate with you when you have nothing and that should change”.

“With this exhibition I am reflecting, finding strength and healing, I am looking at how far I have come and I am proud of the woman I have built in a world that has no structure for me to build from, and what I want with this exhibition is for all those trans women who have doubts to know that it is possible, they are beautiful, worthy and enough”

Mavundla says as an activist, her mission has always been clear, it is Transgender visibility. I know with us being visible means those in power, the government, and society at large will see the need for change and inclusion of transgender people in everything that society is part of daily; that includes access to health care, education, employment, etc. She further emphasizes that it is important that Transgender people are seen as equal and worthy like everyone else who lives in South Africa.

EXHIBITION OPENS 9 August 2023 and closes 31 August 2023

Yaya Mavundla, born and bred in Untunjambili, Kranskop, KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa on the 1st of August 1988. Mavundla raised by her grandmother, left home at the age of 16 and moved to the city of Durban for greener pastures. She completed her matric in 2010 at Wiggins Secondary High School in Durban and she is a Services SETA graduate under Mentoring & Coaching and Skills Development Facilitator program.

She is a multi-award-winning Transgender activist/media personality, a recipient of The Feather Awards (Africa’s largest LGBTIQ Awards), named Sowetan's Woman's Club Trendsetter/Influencer of the year in 2021, voted by the public and Fashion Industry Awards South Africa; Fashion Muse of the Year. She is a Reality TV Star on an M-Net original Reality Show Becoming which premiered on 1Magic & Mzansi Magic and currently streaming on Showmax, and is a brand ambassador for Sorbet Group national & Exuviance South Africa.

She is a curator, entertainment reporter, a publicist and influencer by profession. As a publicist she has worked with world renowned photographer/visual activist Prof. Sir. Zanele Muholi, award winning designers Quiteria & George, Durban Art Gallery, Art Bank of South Africa, award winning media personality Lerato Kganyago, and many other incredible brands and individuals.

In 2022 she launched her own fashion line Queer Comfort which launched in 2021 and sold in London, Oslo, Rome and Amsterdam and South Africa.

She is a community advisory board member at Wits RHI Transgender clinic and former board member at Gender DynamiX. Mavundla is the first Transgender Woman in Africa to wear The Amsterdam Rainbow Dress photographed at Constitution Hill and it artworks currently on display at the Constitutional Court of South Africa.

Mavundla is the brainchild behind Layers of a Black Transgender Woman exhibition, Mzansi Queer Festival and 31 Years of PRIDE Catalogue. In February 2022 she has become the first openly transgender woman to model for South Africa’s leading women magazine TRUELOVE for their fashion pages.

You can follow Yaya on all social media platforms @YayaRSA