Zozibini Tunzi hosts UN Women’s first all-black global art exhibition

Former Miss Universe Zozibini Tunzi is beaming after being selected as a member of the host committee for the UN Women’s first all-black women global art exhibition and auction.

The exhibition titled “A Force for Change” opened to the public on Tuesday and will run until Saturday in New York, US.

Taking to Instagram, Tunzi shared that she was excited to be part of the project that celebrates and explores women’s contributions to creative and cultural industries.

“I’m also excited to be moderating a discussion later today by UN Women and UN Women Caribbean that will celebrate and explore these impeccable women’s contributions to creative and cultural industries and global social movements while highlighting the importance of black women’s roles in sustainable development,” she wrote.

The exhibition includes 26 works by prominent and emerging female artists of African descent, including SA’s Esther Mahlangu, Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi, Nandipha Mntambo and Zanele Muholi.

According to UN Women, the exhibition aims to “recognise and elevate awareness of the transformative power of black women’s art in social justice movements and to support UN Women’s nascent global Black Women’s Programme”.

Proceeds from the auction will benefit black women across the world and the participating artists.

“Though the abstract and figurative works presented in this exhibition were composed by women of great linguistic and aesthetic diversity, their works are statements of survival and of solidarity. Subversively challenging the status quo, these images symbolically connect the concurrent civil and human rights movements in Africa, the Caribbean, South and Central America, Europe and the US,” said curator and art adviser Erin Jenoa Gilbert.

“This exhibition simultaneously offers a glimpse into the past and the future as reimagined by women of African descent. The empowered images of women, presented by the artists in this exhibition, evidence the influence of intersectionality and the inextricable ties between women across the African diaspora.”