Queens Against Borders: Ten Years of Drag, Drama and Not Stepping Away
A decade of Queens Against Borders (QAB) means a decade of drag, queer and trans artists, sweaty dance floors, political conversations, new family bonds and the occasional need to explain to the authorities what exactly is going on. In other words, a pretty good run.
Founded in Berlin in 2015 by Australian drag artist Olympia Bukkakis, Queens Against Borders started as a platform for trans and queer refugees and immigrants to take the stage, show off their talents and make a little room for themselves in a country that doesn't often make room for everyone. The Darvish joined the team in 2018 and eventually took over curation and booking. Since then, QAB has brought its artists into clubs, theatres and major cultural institutions, including the Pergamon Museum, without leaving the politics, the humour or the humour at the door.
Now QAB is celebrating ten years with A Decade of Empowerment, an exhibition dedicated to the people who have made it what it is. There's also a Gratitude Dinner by Syrian chef Tartak, a gathering of artists and longtime supporters, and a fundraiser for Guardians of Equality Movement (GEM), supporting queer people facing persecution in Syria and sending aid to queer people and women in Gaza.
We caught up with The Darvish to talk about the early nights, the artists who have come through QAB, making space when the doors keep closing, and what Berlin owes the people who have helped make its culture what it is. As The Darvish puts it, perhaps we've been asking the wrong question all along:
“lol , the question should be more.. what WE have given the city!”
You first encountered Queens Against Borders in 2017. What do you remember from that time?
The Darvish: One cold night in Berlin, I was a newcomer and exploring the nightlife. I heard people talking about a drag show with Syrians creating shows to support refugees. The keyword that rang in my head was belly dance! My head turned faster than any thought, and I asked those strangers, where is this place?
“Südblock,” they said. I went alone, and my world changed ever since. Steamy windows from all the dancing, queer Arabs singing, laughing and being ever so freely! That blew my mind!
So I'd like to mention here, QAB started way before. September 2015 was the date of emancipation, and till this day, the soul of what started it all remains: a platform for trans and queer refugees and immigrants.
What was the initial vision? Did you start Queens Against Borders?
It wasn't I who founded QAB. I joined co-organising, co-hosting in 2018. The original creator is the Australian drag artist Olympia Bukkakis, and the aim was, and still is, to build a bridge between drag, trans and queer performers who are refugees and those performers who have already established spaces in the city.
A platform for trans and queer refugees to showcase their talent and an opportunity for other Berliners to experience an unforgettable show. The curation and booking of events was then given solely to me back in 2022.
Over ten years, QAB has brought together queer, trans, refugee and migrant artists through performance, club culture and community. What have you learned about what people actually need from a space like this?
Just like I did need a safe environment to exist in, needed an open door into the city after facing many closed ones, I also learned that many need someone to listen!
There were many conversations and laws being put in parliaments about queer refugee identities, without actually listening to what we need. Our stages were an artistic outlet to speak out. We used to start the nights with a one-hour political conversation with different panellists according to the topic chosen.
Some of those topics included healthcare accessibility for trans people within the German system and safety in our club culture.
“The keyword that RANG in my head was bellydance!”
Fun fact: we invited Sonar Berlin, which stands for the health of partygoers and minimising risks associated with consumption, for this panel talk. It was the first time the outbreak and dangers of spiking that was occurring in the community had been discussed, and the team had thanked us for offering prompt action on issues facing our peers.
It felt good to actively make change.
Another panel talk was in 2024, during the heavy policing and silencing of voices for Palestine and many of our artists feeling defeated and scared for showing solidarity. In fact, two were detained by Berlin police for protesting for Palestine.
We used this opportunity to speak up and make our fear be heard with a discussion panel by Palestinian artists and activists as well as Jewish anti-Zionist activists, and called the discussion SID (Systematic & Institutionalised Discrimination).
And yes, we had to hide the name in promo with an abbreviation, because members had received a warning from the police about our panel discussion. After that, and for the safety of our artists, we halted the political discussion, and they became even more embedded in our performances as an act of freedom of speech through artistic practices.
“Our bodies and identities are being politicized without consent, so it's just a reclaiming method”
What have the people who became part of this community taught you?
Since the beginning, we have been raising funds through our nightlife events or collaboration with clients for self-defence classes, which were needed after the surge in homophobic attacks and violence against our community.
In fact, Olympia had been subjected to a hate crime and physical attack, which resulted in broken bones and severe injuries. On another occasion, I was attacked and slammed on the head. Both incidents created fear, and thus it was clear we needed to learn how to fight back, and not only with words.
“The show is yours to create”
The first fully self-funded weekend of self-defence classes, free to all community members with priority given to trans people, was in 2022.
Ever since, what I learn every day from all our artists is resilience, not accepting the status quo, taking our narratives in our own hands.
I met incredible artists from around the globe, to mention a few: Elina (Iraq), Medo (Syria), Dornika (Iran), Brownsugarbiscuit (Singapore), Katrina von Morgenland (Egypt), Diva Beirut (Lebanon), Mikey Woodbridge (Australia), Chiquita Love (Venezuela), Alvin Collantes (Philippines/Canada), Katana Six (Iraq/Canada), Minu (Egypt), Rajrouge (Syria), Salome Blaque (Singapore), Sherine Falasteen (Palestine), Angel Maxine (Ghana), Odisea Rojo (Mexico), and many more.
They all have immense talents and power, which can at times bring a fresh set of proud tears to the soul.
“They all have immense talents and power, which can at times bring a fresh set of proud tears to the soul”
What does empowerment mean to you now, after ten years of doing this work?
I go back to what I said about closed vs. open doors. Being a minority back then, not having stages or opportunities for SWANA performance or drag artists, and being able to carve a space for us in the European capital, is definitely an achievement.
Looking back, the QAB stage provided the audience and the platform to creatives who are now having their own stages. Many successful stories over the years, and many have flourished to make their own creative businesses, and that's a good push for the future: supporting more artists and newcomers. That's what we always need, more visibility!
So praised be the ones who continue to create their own path regardless of rules and restrictions, and we will continue our goal, supporting anyone who needs a space to flourish, away from ostracising.
“That's what we always need, more visibility”
QAB has existed through a lot of political and social change. What has become harder over the years, and what has become possible that perhaps wasn't possible when you started?
I'm gonna state the obvious: the world, and especially German politics, is moving more towards right-wing rhetoric. This was a core enemy to fight since QAB started. It was fighting against the fascist ideology that refugees coming into Europe will only ruin things or be a burden.
Although we succeeded over the years to debunk this nonsense, it has definitely dawned on us how demanding or draining this war is becoming.
On the other hand, we are louder! Our takeovers on museums, institutions and venues that are predominantly white have put us on a larger scale of projecting our voices. Recently, we did a two-day performance at a massive art institute in Lyon, France, Les Subs, where drag kings and queens gave their unforgettable experience.
Not to mention closing the Pergamon Museum Berlin with a big bang back in 2023: Disrupting Time, a curated immersive exhibition and performance by and for trans and queer identities.
So it's always a push and pull when it comes to possibilities.
"Choosing light over darkness in this (sometimes) grim city is a stance of resistance"
You have often spoken about freedom as something that cannot be divided. How does that idea show up in the way you build QAB and the communities around it?
Giving full freedom of choice to what you want to put on stage. I play the role of curating and booking. I'll always be there to help with dramaturgy, but the show is yours to create.
I build a lineup according to what the event needs. Diversity, for me, stands as a priority, and sometimes my way of supporting the community comes from the pressing issues surrounding us.
So I'd book an artist from Iran to speak about what's happening to their siblings, or a performer from Palestine to take the stage and artistically talk about their struggles in the hope of more awareness, or even global issues like our artists from Mexico or Greece who used the opportunity and our stage to talk about violence against community members.
After all, we share this pain, and we know what it means to be ostracised. The aim is to shine a light on that pain from a creative point of view.
“We share this pain, and we know what it means to be ostracized”
QAB has always mixed politics with performance, nightlife, humour, beauty and celebration. Why is that combination important?
Well, politics, because our bodies and identities are being politicized without consent, so it's just a reclaiming method. Nightlife and humor because otherwise we might go LOCO, that's our way of therapy, coming together in support and care.
Beauty and celebration… Did you take a look at our exhibition!? Our artists are divine, those moments snapped by amazing photographers along the years have beauty and talent dripping like honey.
That's definitely a reason to celebrate. After all, choosing light over darkness in this (sometimes) grim city is a stance of resistance.
This anniversary brings together people who have shaped QAB in different ways. What does it mean to bring that family back together now?
A simple way to say thank you for the art, message and holding space.
We will start with an Artist and Long-Time Collaborators and Supporters Gratitude Dinner, a dining experience by Syrian chef Tartak that combines traditional and contemporary cuisine from Syria.
We have done those Gratitude Dinners for the past years around the holidays and Christmas time to make sure no one is feeling left out. But with this one, we have invited everyone who ever stepped on our stage or supported one way or another, so think of it as an XXL edition, right before opening the exhibition A Decade of Empowerment doors at 10 pm.
10.10.10s across the board!
The anniversary is also raising money for the Guardians of Equality Movement in Syria. What made you want to support GEM, and what do you hope people understand about the work they are doing?
What GEM is doing is crucial. I have worked with them before to bring awareness to the assaults our siblings in Syria and neighbouring countries are facing, which aches my heart.
Making European society understand that it's still not safe in Syria, and the new regime in power is not a fresh start, rather a looming force cracking down with no mercy, especially on trans people, with reports and awful videos spreading both online and in activist circles, further facing greater risk of persecution and violence.
As they are also the only queer-led organisation currently sending aid boxes to queer people and women in Gaza, so yes, it's our duty to help with what we can, both financially and by spreading awareness. That's why some pictures from the exhibition will be sold as donations, with the proceeds going to the campaign.
I urge people to check their website and comprehend the work they're doing on the ground.
Support the campaign: Guardians of Equality Movement — Support Syrian LGBTQ+ people under attack
Berlin has changed considerably over the last decade. What has the city given QAB, and what do you worry about losing?
Lol, the question should be more… what WE have given the city!
I like to think it's a give-and-take relationship. One could argue that safety (back then) was a cornerstone for us to find ourselves and create art and explore our identities on a clean slate of comfort, but I say most of us have gone through so much pushback and had to reinvent ourselves multiple times, sometimes in a shape that bureaucracy might need, to survive and continue to fight another day.
I will never forget the main core of this collective or group, which is to defy all odds and bring another narrative onto the table of politics. Every stage, booking, unconventional theatre and institution is a chance to broaden the image that we are not just pawns in politics, we can speak for ourselves.
“we are not just pawns in politics, we can speak for ourselves.”
Looking ahead: what do you want the next ten years of Queens Against Borders to look like?
I can't tell you clearly, as no one can predict anything. As you said, life in Berlin is changing rapidly, and the collective will grow with that as well.
But the core will stay, more SWANA and immigrants visibly, more bridge building than fighting against each other! More ART that makes people question their life choices and maybe sexuality
And NO MORE BORDERS!
“More ART that makes people question their life choices and maybe sexuality ”
“And NO MORE BORDERS!”
