Drag Night Namibia’s trio of curious queens arrive in Cape Town like a gust of hot, fresh desert air.
Their luggage, bursting at the seams with make-up, costumes and the miscellaneous paraphernalia that will bring their drag personas to life, takes up residence on the floor of a bright purple house in Cape Town’s historic Bo-Kaap.
Purple is the colour of royalty, and Namibia’s queens are there to slay, I mean stay.
For the week of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (Ilga) World Conference, 56 Bryant Street will be the headquarters of Drag Night Namibia (DNN).
It’s a place for drag artists Miss Mavis Dash, Gigi Has Arrived and Damn Geisha Mercury to sleep, to transform and to be thoroughly thrilled by the prospect of multiple international performances alongside Mother City drag stars Maxine Wild, Shannin Bronwyn Brown and the associated talents of The Drag Cartel.
It’s also where they stash the drag ball voguing and catwalk awards Gigi and Damn win within the first few days of the conference.
Crowded around a kitchen table on their first giddy evening, Drag Night co-chief executive Lize Ehlers worries over her International Pride Awards acceptance speech for the accolade of ‘Extraordinary Ally’, celebrating her work on the developmental arts platform.
Documentary filmmaker Julia Runge captures footage in between filling chip bowls and wine glasses.
Later, to talk logistics, Equal Namibia co-founder and Ilga strategic alliances and coalitions consultant Omar van Reenen bounds in with a bag full of stroopwafels.
NATURAL COLLABORATION
The collaboration between Equal Namibia and DNN is a natural one.
Both at the fore of advocating for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and other (LGBTQI+) equality, inclusion and community building in Namibia, the organisations have joined forces in an initiative determined to take Namibian Drag to the world.
All told and over six days, DNN performs at seven events, including the Ilga youth conference, the Global Equality Summit, a Salon Kewpie Ilga World Conference ball, a Grindr HIV self-testing kit event and Drag Me to Lunch at Honey & Dora.
They are also featured guest performers at Zer021 Social and they grab the stage at Ilga’s closing gala.
The Ilga World Conference is the largest global gathering of LGBTQI+ changemakers.
This year’s event brought together more than 1 450 human rights defenders, development experts, policymakers, government representatives, researchers, journalists, artists, funders and allies from more than 100 countries under the theme ‘Kwa Umoja, We Rise’.
The five-day conference features a programme of presentations, talks, discussions, panels, networking events and workshops to advance LGBTQI+ equality.
“It was so beautiful to see how art can really take people to greater heights,” says DNN co-founder Rodelio Lewis, who performs as Miss Mavis Dash.
“It was also so beautiful to see these two young artists, Gigi and Damn, share so much of themselves so openly, so vulnerably and to so many people in a foreign space – and at the same time compete at a level of international quality and come home with trophies […] so many business connections and opportunities.”
Both Gigi and Damn have never been to Cape Town, let alone on a flight.
But you wouldn’t know it watching them perform.
Their confidence and enthusiastic reception screams international.
Their drag is pared down. It’s a far cry from the stunning, big-haired, expertly padded, face-beaten for the Gods South African queens, but their “charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent” shine through to the point of becoming minor conference celebs, replete in blue Avatar-style make-up and outfits made entirely of black hair extensions courtesy of Namibia’s Fyn China Creations.
“It’s my first time in Cape Town, and the entire conference was a learning curve for me to understand what actually happens behind the scenes of these big events for LGBTQI+ visibility and activism,” says Gigi.
“It was really interesting to meet so many different people from all over the world and learn about the projects they run and what they do.”
Gigi adds: “I always say there is something about queer culture that is very unique because it’s very open, warm and welcoming. I had the opportunity to learn more about ball culture and meet incredible drag queens. I feel so liberated, so celebrated, so validated and part of a global family. Just seeing people appreciate your drag persona is insane.”
“I was under the impression that I would feel intimidated. But people were appreciating our drag for what it is. We didn’t have the beautiful big hair or the padding, but people said: It’s the energy that’s different. You serve us something else.”
On the menu is Damn bringing retro realness, killer catwalk and encouraging audiences to dance the night away.
Miss Mavis reaches new levels of international MC’ing while slaying dynamic, dancing and dramatic drag. There is also the thrill of Gigi performing crowd-rousing original music between serving face and voguing for her life.
As for Ehlers, there is just no stopping her wave of immense musical talent and verve. Those who hear her sing are instant fans, and those who are only made aware of her activist work are in for a mind-blowing treat.
Through it all, Runge’s documentary camera pans over various life-changing and world-opening scenes: Drag Night Namibia’s celebrated queens getting dressed in the Bo-Kaap, performing at Ilga, dancing in District Six or handing out roses on Adderley Street.
“The documentary is about Namibian Drag going across borders, as as well as the queens DNN collaborates with from East Africa, Germany and South Africa.
“We want to show what drag looks like in each country – the travelling, what the rehearsals look like, what the struggles are, and what each one is facing. It’s about working together and learning from each other,” Runge says.
“The importance of the documentary is that it shows the human behind everything else, behind the drag. I think a lot of the people who are judging and being judgemental about drag, about trans people and the LGBTQI+ community, they don’t know a lot about the community itself,” Runge says.
“I think it’s important to show that LGBTQ+ people are just humans,” she says.
“They are just people who love each other.”
– martha@namibian.com.na; Martha Mukaiwa
on Twitter and Instagram, marthamukaiwa.com
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