Today I'm talking to The Darvish (he/she/they) who is a Syrian self-tought performance artist, cultural events and performance parties organizer as well as creative & artistic assistant director. Most recently the Darvish premiered in a Contemporary Dance & Theater piece with Israeli Choreographer Nir De Volff titeled 'Come As Your ARE #2' .

In this episode we speak about "femme", a non-normative version of femininity existing outside of patriarchal control which can be embodied by everyone regardless of their gender identity. A form of femininity refusing to be subjugated by the male gaze and instead celebrating the magic of femininity existing on one's own terms. Embracing their femme personality visibly in public, the Darvish also addresses femmephobia (violence that femmes experience based on misogyny).

What shines through the whole episode is their deep believe in "femme power" and the necessity to cherish femme people in every sphere of life. One concrete example of this is Berlin biggest solidarity party series with trans*/queer refugee performers which the Darvish co-hosts and co-organizest called Queens Against Borders (IG: @queensxborders) . The project aims to build a bridge between the LGBT+ SWANA (South West Asia/ North Africa) community and established Berlin artists.

One more link I would like to share regarding this topic is the poetry collection "femme in public" by the wonderful artist and gender studies scholar Alok Vaid-Menon .

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I am your host Béla Belissima, non-binary soul from Berlin on the journey to dismantle our cis-heteronormative world and look beyond all binaries. Re-writing our narratives and telling our own stories. Thanks for being here