Trans creativity: festivals and carnivals

 You can't put the LGBT community down - we've always been a public presence. This month, my look at queer creativity can't ignore carnival season and the music festival that's just been and gone. It looks like the winner of the newly created Sanremo Festival Queer Prize will be performing at the Eurovision Song Contest.

As I've said here several times before, the Sanremo Music festival dominates the western riviera and the Italian airwaves at this time of year, officially for a week but actually for considerably longer as there's a long preparation period before and a debriefing period after. Life is starting to get back to normal after the 75th edition of this annual media extravaganza! 

This year's winner, who is first call for representing Italy at the 2025 Eurovision song contest in Basel, Switzerland, was Olly but he says he's likely to be too busy giving concerts to participate so the next choice goes to the very close second, Lucio Corsi, who, as I said, won the very first Sanremo Queer Prize. Described as something of a revival of glam rock (and I have a history with that!), his song was Volevo essere un duro ("I wanted to be a tough guy"). The prize is for the artist who has most engaged with the LGBT+ community.

There are several other honourable mentions for the prize, including special guest Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran (remember them?) who spoke in support of LGBT+ persons, or Elodie's music video featuring drag queen Sypario (who actually seems to come off second best here! - judge for yourselves):

 

Call me shallow, but Elodie's dress and nails and hair captured my attention! So despite always having been a carnival of camp as I said last year, this new prize makes it official! 

An interesting development is that the openly phobic bishop who has often attacked the festival itself, let alone the queer community, let one artist use the cathedral as an alternative venue, a concert that was apparently much appreciated. The concurrent Festival of Christian Music the bishop instituted as a direct alternative to the Song Festival was poorly attended and, although officially dedicated to Pope Francis and the Catholic Jubilee Year, there were those who wanted to dedicate it to Donald Trump. For as long as Christians continue to associate themselves with that mendacious narcissistic fraudster they will be tainted by him. 

Sanremo Pride is on April 5th.

Carnival

I wrote about carnival season last year. It's a pity that what used once to be local events to welcome the spring or the first fruits have been so commercialised that if you want to see the main parade you have to pay quite a lot for a ticket and sit in a seat. There are the performers and the audience, a novel segregation that never existed when these events first developed centuries or millennia ago. The connection with the land, the seasons and the local people is largely lost. But I mention carnivals as they have always been a godsend for trans people who want to be themselves under the license of accepted public celebrations. You could be anyone under a mask or disguise and that tradition at least continues, mainly in countries of Latin tradition, at this time of year. Our biggest local event is Nice Carnival.

Other local crossdressed events

Spotted just reading the press in my area this month ...

(1) There's a production of Anton Chekhov's masterpiece The Cherry Orchard ... performed in Savona by Nina's Drag Queens, a troupe from Milan. Chekhov (1860-1904) is an exceptional playwright in my view (not to be confused with Chekov of the USS Enterprise). An interesting take on a play with significant female characters.

(2) The Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo ("The Trocks"), that well-known spoof drag ballet company, will also be performing in Italy and France in March. They're not actually from Monte Carlo but New York so I'm guessing the name is part of the spoof. I've never seen them but then I'm not much into classical ballet to appreciate the full comedy, despite always having been fascinated by ballet costumes. Anyway, they always get rave reviews ... and who doesn't envy their floaty feminine workwear?

(3) French DJ, LGBT+ advocate and Drag Race France panellist, Kiddy Smile, will be performing in Toulouse, France in May-June, bringing a bit of glam to the streets there.

 

Visual arts

In Britain, Tate St Ives in Cornwall has an exhibition (to May 5th) of surrealist artist Ithell Colquhoun (1906-1988) who became fascinated by androgyny and whose oneiric landscapes are full of - how shall I put it? - suggestions of male or female objects, freestanding or in fusion or approaching it. Maybe Freudian but certainly fascinating, dreamlike and spiritual. 

The website here: Between Worlds which also has a discussion of other artists: Queer Cornwall

Keep being fabulous.

Sue x