FACELESS BEHIND THE MASK: WOMEN WITH DISABILITIES TAKE CENTRE STAGE

Gallery 2: Women in Disability Advocacy and Creative Leadership

When Gwen Mushonga first opened the doors to her Faceless Behind the Mask gallery, audiences were invited to confront the mask, the image the world sees, and the identities society often imposes on others.

This second instalment goes beyond appearances. It turns attention to the women behind the mask: women with disabilities whose voices, leadership and contributions are too often overlooked. Under the theme “Women in Disability Advocacy and Creative Leadership,” the exhibition challenges the exclusion of women with disabilities from conversations about national development, gender equality and climate change.

This week, the masquerade is over. We meet who is behind it.

Women with disabilities are often left out of conversations about development and climate change, even though they are hit hardest. This exhibition puts them in front not as people waiting for help, but as leaders and change-makers.

Through the Alive Albinism Initiative (AAI), Gwen uses visual storytelling to fight inequality, push for gender equity, and demand that women with disabilities are included in national development.

As an artist with albinism, Gwen speaks from lived experience. In Africa, people with albinism face serious danger from UV radiation as the climate gets hotter, alongside deep cultural stigma.

Mushonga’s layered, upcycled textile works reinforce this message. By transforming discarded materials into artistic expressions, she explores identity, resilience, protection, and the possibility of renewal. The process of giving new life to what has been discarded becomes a powerful metaphor for challenging the way society treats people with albinism and women with disabilities.

The works invite viewers to reconsider ideas of beauty, worth and belonging, while questioning the social attitudes that push some people to the margins. At its heart, Faceless Behind the Mask is a call for visibility that goes beyond simply being seen. It is about recognition, participation, and the right to shape the decisions that affect one's life and community.

In this second gallery, the mask is no longer the main attraction. The focus is on the women, their stories, and their power to lead.

Gwen Mushonga art exhibition