In “Are We Dead Yet?” Hassan Dib wants to explore death by looking at its meaning and importance in their personal life, their migration and family history, their memories of death of loved ones and the deaths that helped them to transition into their queer identity.

Being queer requires to let things die, things that were handed down for generations that no longer serve us. These deaths are what allows us to live and simultaneously what puts our lives in danger. The subject of death has always been present in Hassan’s previous work. “Are We Dead Yet?” is a reflection on how death has been present in their life, how it has traumatized them and how it still terrifies them.

Death has a tendency to show up uninvited. It catches us off guard through viral videos or devastating phone calls, it forces us to the streets in protest. It shows up in our work simply because we can’t avoid it. In this piece Hassan wants to give themselves a chance to face the topic of death on their own terms, they would like to invite death in and evoke questions like: Why do we fear death, and what happens to us when we accept it? What deaths have shaped us?

Performance artist Hassan Dib (AKA Queen of Virginity) creates theatrical drag and solo pieces staged primarily in queer art spaces. Originally from Beirut, Lebanon, Hassan has been based in Berlin since 2017. Hassan holds a bachelor’s degree in theater and stage acting from the Lebanese University of Beirut.

A lifelong attraction to dance and movement also drives their creative exploration as a movement artist. They participated in several large performances in Lebanon alongside major local artists such as Sahar Assaf and Lina Abyad, and more recently in a cabaret theatre production in Berlin (“Lila Lied”). With an urge to break from the traditionalism of repertory theatre and tackle gender construction through performance, Hassan grew a passion towards the artform of drag. Under the name of Queen of Virginity, they have been actively and independently carving out their own space in the queer scene of Berlin since 2018. Queen of Virginity is the 2019 winner of the annual drag pageant Mx. Kotti, as well as a co-founding member of the Queer Arab Barty and HERA collectives, and of the NGO Critical Queer Solidarity.

[Source: ada-studio.de]

TFB Nr. 1620