Publisert 10.04.2025
The international indigenous drag show Indigenous Drag Excellence XXL premiered at the indigenous festival Riddu Riđđu in July 2024 and was the first of its kind in Sápmi. In February 2025 the project traveled to New York in collaboration with the Finnish-Cultural Institute in New York, Riddu Riđđu, and the Finnish-Norwegian Cultural Institute.
The project brought together artists from Australia, Canada and the Finnish side of Sápmi, and the artists were Aunty Tamara, Feather Talia, Randy River and Ritni Tears. The performance in New York took place at the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art, the only art museum in the world dedicated to artistic exploration through multi-faceted queer perspectives, and was followed by a roundtable conversation with the artists on queer Indigenous joy, the fluidity of gender expression and sexuality through art and storytelling, and methodologies of honoring Indigenous experience. The artists were joined by local transmedia performance artist and educator MX Oops.
The project was covered by the PAPER Magazine, where Randy River shares:
”We’re able to showcase the wide range of Two-Spirit, trans and queer Indigenous drag from across the globe. While we all have different Indigenous knowledges and cultures, we all share a common experience in that queer Indigenous peoples have been deeply harmed by colonialism on an international scale. Performing together allows us to heal collectively from that trauma while also demonstrating that Two-Spirit, trans and queer Indigenous peoples are still here and always will be.”
We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to all of the artists and partners who have been involved in this beautiful project!
Indigenous Drag Excellence was realised as part of pARTir, a collaborative initiative of the Finnish cultural and academic institutes promoting sustainable international mobility in 2024 and 2025. pARTir is funded by the European Union’s Next Generation EU initiative.
