Sunday, November 30, the iconic Bourla Theatre in Antwerp opens its doors for Artists Against Stigma. Merging art, activism, and community, this edition features a Positive Lunch in the lavish foyer, followed by a powerful main stage theatre show in the concert hall.
During the lunch, guests will enjoy live performances. Your host and first performer is drag king Raoul les mecaniques. Drag queens Ebony Nyota and Diva Beirut will stun you with class acts that range from French superstylish to vibrant and eclectic Lebanese performance. Performer Bas Van der Kruk will combine spoken word and dance, in interaction with the audience. Caribe Montiel & Simon(e) Paetau prepare a feast for your eyes as a tableau vivant with flowers and fruit.
The afternoon continues in the main hall featuring international names like dancers Juan Cruz Cizmar & Marcos Arriola, Leona Winter (winner of The Switch Drag Race, Chilean version of RuPaul’s Drag Race). Activist and artist Mel Rattue shares her story as a long-term survivor, mother, and peer coordinator at Positive East in London. Filmmaker Marina Vergueiro joins us with her film, Letters to Myself, which challenges the invisibility of women when discussing HIV, transforming personal stories into collective strength and dialogue.
The edition also features a collaboration with Visual Aids. De Cinema will screen “Meet Us Where We’re At”, a program of six videos that forefront the experiences of drug users and harm reduction practices as they intersect with the ongoing HIV crisis. Commissioned videos by artists in Puerto Rico, Brazil, Nigeria, Germany, and Vietnam journey across a range of spaces revealing the complexity of drug use. Several videos document the visible world of drugs—a harm reduction program in a Berlin park, a night out during Rio’s Carnival—while others reveal private, often hidden spaces where safety is found: bedrooms, underground clinics, and moments of connection between lovers.
In the next couple of weeks we will present this powerful parade in more detail.
Also check out other Arts events in Antwerp, Entertainment events in Antwerp, Performances in Antwerp.
