Brooklyn based drag queen and artist Untitled Queen (aka Matthew de Leon) has curated the first global LGBTQIA+ digital drag show, Untitled (World) a virtual show featuring 47 drag artists from around the world each representing one country. The livestream will premiere on YouTube this Saturday Dec 5th 2020 at 5pm EST.
Through an open call in August, Untitled Queen asked artists from around the world to submit video performances that addressed what it means to be an LGBTQIA+ person in the world today. Untitled Queen told The Queer Review, “Through a diverse representation of drag, identity, and culture, Untitled (World) will celebrate innate magic, vibrancy, and indomitable spirit in the face of systemic oppression including but not limited to white supremacy, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, misogyny, ableism, toxic masculinity, patriarchy, binaries, colonization, and displacement. Each artist provides a voice and insight into how these issues affect their lives and how drag is an art form of community, protest, joy, pain, love, and change.”
“One of the most exciting parts about the show is that there is no single answer to the question of what it means to be an LGBTQIA+ person in the world today”, Untitled Queen continues. “We have drag performances from Indigenous artists paying tribute to their ancestors’ spirits and lands, protest songs calling out government corruption and police brutality, the natural landscape of their homes, messages of beauty, hope, and strength in their communities; dancing, dreaming, picking flowers, marching in the streets. In all cases these artists are telling their stories unmediated, from their perspective.”
Untitled (World) will be made up of five one-hour segments, separated by live DJ sets from sound artist DJ Jessamess. Untitled Queen will be hosting the event and introducing each performance. In honor of World AIDS Day, Untitled (World) will benefit three grassroots HIV/AIDS organizations: Health Gap, HIV Legal Network, and the Positive Women’s Network. The show will be OPEN CAPTIONED for Deaf and Hard of Hearing communities.
Submissions for Untitled (World) were open to “all drag artists (drag queen, drag king, non-binary, gender non-conforming, everything between and beyond), not just drag queens.” The artists were required to be currently living in the country they wanted to represent in order to actively reflect and contribute to their immediate community.
Untitled (World), the first global LGBTQIA+ digital drag show. 47 countries each represented by 1 Drag Artist. Premiering December 5th 2020 at 5pm EST on YouTube.