Inqayi Elangeni | Lee-Ann Olwage

Collection

Inqayi Elangeni

There exists an expression in the Xhosa language: “funda ukuzimela nge nqayi elangeni.” But what if the head is as soft as a yolk and the sun blazes over 300 degrees? Ukufunda ukuzimela nge nqayi elangeni means to be able to stand and rely solely on your head. As a form of strength, a form of stability and inevitable as your compass. Your guiding light.

But what happens when that head is riddled with anxiety about what it means to exist as a kweer (queer) body, and more so as a black kweer body. Too ‘black’ to exist in a ‘no blacks!’ community, too femme to be in a ‘no femmes’ society, and too kweer to fit into the black community.

The project Inqayi Elangeni is a collaboration between South African photographer Lee-Ann Olwage and the artist and subject of the series Lusi Mahote. The work is a visual poem to the various stages of mental health Lusi has experienced while fleshing out their existence and identity as a black kweer body in the context of South Africa where their own culture often denies that kweer identity exists.

The project was created to highlight the mental struggles black kweer bodies face. A struggle that is often hidden from the pubic eye. The LGBT community has higher incidences of mental problems because of the experience of a hidden, fragmented sense of health and well-being. In a world structured as heterosexual, everything else is seen as wrong. Not fitting the norm is bewildering. Too little integration with society or a community can lead to mental health problems. Experiences of social exclusion, discrimination and prejudice impact on mental health, and people who identify as LGBT have significantly higher rates of depression, suicide, and anxiety disorders than their heterosexual matched peers.

The creation of the work acted as an opportunity to safely explore the various stages of mental health and served as a catalyst for healing and an opportunity to reclaim the mind as a safe space for Lusi. This project is about finding healing. Understanding ones pain, sitting with that pain and becoming okay with it and then opening the door for healing to occur.