Collen Mfazwe

Collen Silumko Mfazwe is a South African contemporary artist and documentary photographer whose practice explores identity, masculinity, belonging, memory and the complexities of lived experience. Working primarily through photography and film, Mfazwe creates intimate visual narratives that centre people and communities whose stories are often overlooked or misrepresented.

His practice is rooted in personal experience and community engagement, combining documentary observation with a deeply personal visual language. His ongoing work examines how identity is formed through family, place, memory and social relationships, while creating space for stories that are rarely given visibility.

Mfazwe has developed a body of work across photography, film and visual activism, including projects such as I Am My Father’s Son, My Name Is Silumko, Becoming and Umkhondo Wobuzwe. His work has been exhibited in South Africa and internationally, including his selection for Out: LGBTQ+ Artist Activists of Africa at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art.

His work is held in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, reflecting the growing recognition of his contribution to contemporary African photographic p...

Revolution Academy — Film & Television

Market Photo Workshop — Photography

University of Pretoria (UP) — Leadership Course

CDP — Visual Art Course

News From Home (NFH) — Film Training

Here: Pride and Belonging in African Art
National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution — Washington, D.C., USA
2026

Permanent Collection:
Artwork acquired by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art into its permanent collection.

Sanibonani
Jonathan Carver Moore — San Francisco, California, USA
2023

Group exhibition featuring Collen Mfazwe alongside Zanele Muholi and other artists.

Inguqu/Transformation
Nigeria
2023
Exhibition featuring Mfazwe’s photographic series Inguqu/Transformation.

Pride & Loss
Jenkins Johnson Projects — New York, USA
2018
Group exhibition featuring Collen Mfazwe’s work and curated by Zanele Muholi.

Pride & Loss
No Man’s Art Gallery — Amsterdam, Netherlands
2017
Group exhibition featuring Collen Mfazwe and other South African artists, presented during Amsterdam Gay Pride.

On Visual Activism
Constitution Hill — Johannesburg, South Africa
2017

21/21 / Visual Activism Cultural Exchange Project (VACEP)
Kunstplass 10 — Oslo, Norway
2015

their closets, their caskets (Part I)
Contra.Joburg — Johannesburg, South Africa
2024

Imisindo Nezindlela
DAC on Dorp — South Africa
2024