Ernst van der Wal is a lecturer in Visual Studies at the Visual Arts Department of Stellenbosch University, where he also obtained his PhD in the Visual Arts in 2013. His research examines the visualisation and embodiment of lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender identities within post-apartheid South Africa – a subject on which he has published widely. Recent research focuses on forms of community-based knowledge production that bridges the divide between transgender and cisgender scholarship.