The Vorderasiatisches Museum invites you to a special event curated by The Darvish from Queens Against Borders.
Join us for a night of unique dance and music performances by Trans and Queer people of Middle Eastern backgrounds living in Berlin. Follow this diverse group of activists and performers as they roam the ancient western Asian galleries, disrupting the conventional passage of time in the museum. Through their stories and powerful testimonials, the artists will bring into dialogue people and antiquities in a new perspective challenging our traditional perception of the past.
The Vorderasiatisches Museum closes its doors to the visitors in October 2023, ninety years since it opened. This moment gives us not only the opportunity to reflect on how we, as the Vorderasiatisches Museum, can better present stories about the past to visitors in the future, but also to reassess our current practices, our goals, and priorities. A starting point for us is imagining how a museum about ancient West Asia in Berlin will be relevant to our communities, visitors, and people of Berlin fourteen years from now. Following Gate: Between Babylon and Berlin, the collaboration with the Queens Against Borders is the second event in the Vorderasiatisches Museum closure program, opening new ways for bringing together the ancient western Asian collections and current communities of the museum.
Queens against Borders (QaB). The first performance-party, building solidarity for and by Trans and Queer refugees in Berlin, who are showcasing their art, as well as sharing their emotional and personal experiences with audiences. It was founded by Drag artist Olympia Bukkakis in 2015 and is currently being organized by Syrian performance artist The Darvish. In the past QAB has raised money for gender affirming surgeries and self-defense workshops, and has supported the artistic careers of many South West Asian/ North African(SWANA) region performers.
The Darvish is a non-binary Syrian self-taught dancer, cultural events and performance party organizer, theater dancer and activist. Darvish has co-authored ZUGZWÄNGE 2020 – THIS IS EUROPE 2023 and co-founded Yalla Hafla. After immigrating to Berlin, in 2016 Darvish started working more on gender identities and artistic expressions, questioning the relationship between social boundaries and performance art.
Anthony Nakhle was trained in ballet, jazz and hip hop at Caracalla Dance School, Beirut. He took up dance training at Broadway Dance Center New York City and Millennium Dance Complex Los Angeles. His journey brought him to Las Vegas, where he held the main role dancing in heels for “Cirque Du Soleil – Zumanity”.
Wizzy is an artist renowned for his bold writing and creative performances, where he transforms his manifestos into poetry with a unique vision. Since 2015, he has been responsible for some of the most prominent queer events in Berlin, including Queens Against Borders, Dandanah and Queer Syria. Always committed to creating safe spaces and sharing them with other artists, Wizzy has been one of the first Arab musicians to receive a MusicBoard grant.
Iman Asadi is a Greek/Egyptian Trans woman with a passion for performance and culture. Iman moved to berlin 2 years ago, started modelling and became a passionate hairstylist.
1001 Nights Berlin Created by Mouafak Aldoabl, a German/Syrian dancer & choreographer, is based in the heart of Berlin. The group is inspired by the Arabic dance language Mouafak brought with him to Berlin, which is the fusion of traditional and contemporary dance styles.
Jouana Samia is an artist, dancer, choreographer, director and producer with Lebanese roots. She founded THE COMPANY, a dance company gaining reputation all over Europe for the outstanding quality of its coaches, talents, workshops and diversity.
Havo is a Syrian percussionist, working as a drummer since he was 13 years old. Havo was a member of the Raman band while in Syria and later in Dubai for 7 years until he immigrated to Berlin to continue his career.
Maria Asskaf is a well-known and appreciated German/Syrian belly dance artist and teacher from the north of Germany, based in Berlin. She was the former dancer and choreographer in the famous Madi Varieté theatre, performed nationally and internationally in clubs, shows, TV, and organized her own dance parties „Wahda&Nos“ with a live band.
Cham Saloum is an oud player and a composer, a traveler between the beauty of the traditional, the new, and the craziness of jazz. Cham was born in 1996 in Syria and began learning oud at the Arabic Oud House in 2010 from well-known oud players Schrine Tohamy and Naseer Shamma. In 2015, she graduated and came to Germany. Since then she has performed both alone and with numerous orchestras.
Keil Li Divõn is a proud refugee from Libya. She always knew she was trapped in the body of a star, and when she landed in Germany, she unleashed her full potential as a singer, songwriter, and performer. Keil Li is on the trans spectrum, but she identifies primarily as a witch.
The event is organized by the Vorderasiatisches Museum and supported by Museum and Locations, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.
>> Free admission. Limited number of attendees. We kindly ask you to reserve your ticket by writing organizers Pinar Durgun p.durgun@smb.spk-berlin.de or Giulia Russo g.russo@smb.spk-berlin.de. In case you would not be able to attend, please let us know in time.
