How hyenas became symbols of female power in South African art
By AFP | Published Apr 4, 2025
South African artist Hannelie Coetzee is challenging perceptions through her 'eco-queer' art, transforming despised hyenas into powerful symbols of female strength and sexual diversity. From her Johannesburg studio, she creates striking ink and rooibos tea drawings that celebrate the misunderstood matriarchs of the bush, part of her mission to normalise 'otherness' through nature's examples.