Decolonizing Queerness: A Moroccan and Sex Workers Perspective. By Mala Hamza Badi and  Aynouk Tan

This event sheds light on the way how colonialism has violated and erased queer bodies. It aims to decolonize the notion ‘queer’ by sharing personal stories. In doing so queerness is inherently diversified, and can grow as a concept that moves beyond the definition that western imperialism has imposed on it. The night consists out of performances and a panel discussion.

WAR ON BODIES by Mala Badi

This performance sheds light on the chronological process of controlling the body in relation to colonialism. It travels through different times lived by Moroccan people and their bodies. Badi shows how colonialism changed how we treat our bodies, our genders and sexualities and expresses the bodily colonialism associated with war and military invasion. Through audiovisual material, body expressions and symbols inherited from Moroccan Amazigh memory, the performance is a revival of bodily transmission by inheritance – inspired by the history and traditions of the Moroccan people and their bodies. Badi also refers to barb wire borders as a colonial concept (delusional boundaries/ building walls) which tell us how boundaries have contributed to the bordering of our bodies and sexualities.

Mala Badi is a gender non-conforming performance artist, writer and political activist from Morocco. Their performances and writings emerge from their personal experiences in daily life. Mala seeks to amplify the visibility of the queer & trans* North African, Amazigh, Muslim and Refugee communities. They believe that decolonizing art is a necessary political act of affirming existence against the global attack and the marginalization of the cultures, histories and collective artistic work of POC and people from the south.

This event is curated and will be moderated by Aynouk Tan.

Aynouk Tan is a (fashion) journalist, curator, lecturer and activist specialized in the relationship between appearance and identity politics. By observing appearance from a anthropological point of view they aim to deconstruct colonial, neoliberal and heteronormative narratives. I.e. queering identity. Clients including Radio 1, Tropenmuseum, Mama Cash Foundation, Stedelijk Museum, the Cobra Museum and Linda TV. Tan is also an advisor at the Amsterdam Fund for the Arts and board member of the political party Amsterdam BIJ1.