ARTIST STATEMENT
Lightly Edited Version:
Until All Birds Can Sing: On Being Queer in South Africa
Until All Birds Can Sing: On Being Queer in South Africa explores the layered, shifting realities of queer existence in a country still marked by the scars of colonialism and apartheid. Drawing inspiration from Marsha P. Johnson’s enduring words—“No pride for some of us without liberation for all of us”—this project becomes a call for collective freedom and the urgent necessity of visibility. The title is both metaphor and promise: liberation is incomplete until every voice is heard… until all birds can sing.
Rooted in Lacan’s concept of the veil (Lacan, 1966; Gherovici, 2017), the work examines how language and dominant social codes obscure, fragment, and shape queer identities. The veil is not static; it is rhythm, movement, and rupture. Like a curtain caught in the wind, it reveals and conceals—offering fleeting glimpses of a self in constant becoming. Queerness, in this sense, is never fixed; it is a dynamic process that resists containment and binary categorization.
In South Africa, this process is deeply shaped by contradiction. Legal progress stands alongside persistent violence, marginalization, and erasure. Cape Town’s LGBTQIA+ community lives within this tension—radiant and diverse, yet constantly navigating structures rooted in race, class, and gender inequality. Despite these conditions, queer South Africans continue to build powerful networks of resistance, celebration, and care. Their lives are shaped by defiance and dignity, by vulnerability and strength.
Among the many powerful expressions of queer selfhood in this context is Melanie’s perspective—a Black non-binary person with Xhosa roots. They embody an unapologetic authenticity that resonates throughout the community: “I embrace every part of who I am and take pride in my skin and heritage. My gender is fluid and doesn’t fit into society’s traditional binary expectations, and I’m unapologetic about that.” Their words reflect the strength of living one’s truth on one’s own terms, despite resistance.
As a psychologist and visual artist, I engage with these narratives through what I understand as visual activism. My photographic practice is grounded in respectful, meaningful exchange.
I do not approach others as subjects to be analyzed or captured, but as collaborators in a shared moment. My aim is to reflect what I see: passionate, complex, empowered beings courageously embodying their true selves. These encounters echo what Daniel Stern (2004) described as “islands of consciousness”—moments of meeting that shape growth and connection. They form the psychological foreground, the lived present where transformation occurs.
For me, photography is not about taking a picture—it is about creating together. We, as photographers, do not take something from someone; we co-create a stable element, a conserved moment in time. Each image is not the whole truth, but an aspect of it—a fragment shaped by trust, attention, and presence. A photograph becomes a visual echo of something real, held with care and intention.
This is how I understand solidarity: not as speaking for others, but being with them—through clarity, respect, and shared creation.
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Moena Weiss (born 1995 in Germany) is a photographer and psychologist (M.A. in Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy) whose work focuses on the intersection of art, psychology, and queer mental health. She explores identity, resilience, and visibility, particularly within marginalized communities.
Moena’s projects include Until All Birds Can Sing – On Being Queer in South Africa, a documentary photography project examining the LGBTQ+ community in Cape Town, and Womenhood, which critiques gender constructs through photography. She is also developing a new project highlighting the experiences of queer women in South Africa, exploring themes of gender inequality and empowerment.
As part of her PhD, her work includes developing a self-portrait analysis as both an artistic and psychological tool for reflecting on identity and gender. She employs methods such as the Self-Portrait Reflection Questionnaire and body image analysis, providing a space for self-reflection and empowerment through portraiture, particularly for trans* individuals.
