Zanele Muholi Wins the 2026 Hasselblad Award

South African visual activist Zanele Muholi has been named as the winner of the world’s largest photography award – the Hasselblad Award.

PHOTOS Zanele Muholi/Southern Guild

Universally regarded as the most significant prize in photography, the Hasselblad Award recognises lifetime achievement and the medium’s transformative impact.

“It is with great pleasure that we award Zanele Muholi the 46th Hasselblad Award,” says Kalle Sanner, CEO of the Hasselblad Foundation. “In their artistic practice, Muholi combines photography with activism, creating powerful and significant works in which human rights are central. We look forward to presenting an extensive selection of their work this autumn at the Hasselblad Center.”

The visual activist, humanitarian, and art practitioner is awarded SEK 2,000,000, a gold medal, and a Hasselblad camera. The laureate will also be honoured with a major solo exhibition at the Hasselblad Center in Gothenburg, Sweden, from 10 October 2026 to 4 April 2027, alongside a week of historic events, including a formal award ceremony, an orchestral concert, a book launch, and an artist talk at Moderna Museet in Stockholm.

“This prize is not mine alone. I carry it with the many faces, names, and histories that have trusted me with their stories. From Umlazi to every space where Black LGBTQIA+ people continue to fight to exist freely, this recognition affirms that our lives are worthy of being seen not as statistics, not as shadows, but as full human beings. For years, my work has been about visibility and resistance. It has been about creating an archive so that no one can say, ‘We did not know.’ When this honour comes, I receive it on behalf of my community; those who have been erased, those who are still here, and those who are yet to see themselves reflected with dignity,” says Zanele.

A curated selection of Zanele Muholi’s work is currently on display at Magugu House in Cape Town. By Our Own Hands, presented in partnership with Southern Guild, is co-curated by Thebe Magugu alongside Contemporary African Art Specialist Julia Buchanan. The exhibition, which runs until the end of April and also features work by Zizipho Poswa, reflects on making as a form of authorship, healing, and resistance.

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