AfriQueer


AfriQueer is an evocative, dreamscaped site-specific ritual performance created by Drama for Life AFRICA Project, written by Tlotlego Gaogakwe and directed by Warren Nebe. It brings together a group of talented performing artists who each make a unique contribution toward the curated work. This acclaimed site-specific celebrates LGBTIQ human rights and is based on an ancient creation myth of how the stars were made.

AfriQueer has already performed iterations in Mozambique, Botswana, South Africa at the National Arts Festival where the work was awarded the Adelaide Tambo Award for Human Rights in 2016 and in the Netherlands as part of the main AfroVibes Festival 2017 in Amsterdam and Rotterdam.

This brave, original work opens up a space for reflection, compassion and understanding of and for queer identities, and adds to the already sounded clarion call for a human rights and social justice based approach to LGBTIQ.

AfriQueer is a dreamscape, a queer meditation on masculinities. Audiences are invited to embark on a ritualistic journey with the performers through a natural space/environment. The voyage is framed by the poetic narrative of an ancient San creative myth that tells of how the stars were made by two lovers who lose themselves in a maze of circumstance. The audience is challenged to look, witness, and contemplate masculinities, sexualities and relationships differently - in open, non-judgmental and non-prescriptive ways.

AfriQueer, while safeguarding the safety and wellness of all its members, seeks to reveal Queer masculinities in Africa. It proposes that Gay Rights are Human Rights, and that Human Rights are Gay Rights.

AfriQueer is made possible by the generous support from the Swiss Agency for Development Corporation (SDC), the Goethe-Institut and Drama for Life at University of the Witwatersrand.


Social Media:

#AfriQueer has a substantial social media platform inclusive of:

Twitter: @Drama_for_life

Twitter: @dfl_AFRICA

Twitter: @AfricaQueer

Twitter: @FUCKmeQUEER

Instagram: @fmqsafely

Instagram:  @AfricanQueer