On 25 August at 18.00, Kogo Gallery, based in Tartu, Estonia, opens a group exhibition Drag Yourself Here by the Baltic Drag King Collective – a fluid community of drag performance artists from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The exhibition invites to experience, via drag, a glimpse into queer nightlife, gender empowerment and politics. Drag Yourself Here is curated by Mētra Saberova, Latvian queer feminist performance and moving-image artist. The show is part of Kogo Gallery’s this year’s programme Queer it Up.
The Baltic Drag King Collective’s exhibition Drag Yourself Here celebrates the extended queer community, who have made the collective decision to work together for a more joyous and inclusive society, both on and off the stage. The exhibition, curated by Latvian artist Mētra Saberova, who is also the Collective’s co-founder and manager, consists of photographic material by Latvian photographers Krista Saberova and Edgars Tabaks from the ongoing activities of the Baltic Drag King Collective, with individual contributions from its members. The display showcases the scope of their performances and their varied and distinct approaches to, and motivations for, dwelling in the world of drag, and examines the contested world of gender roles and their disruption.
The drag artists and contributors to this exhibition are Mētra Saberova (Timmy), Krista Saberova, Edgars Tabaks, Ilze Vēze-Balode (Henry Oak), Mailo Štern, DJ Lévi, Marss The Person, Vincent Hemingay, Dawn (K!NK), Niko Rain (Bazilix), Vencheska Baltique and Vivianna Maria Stanislavska from Latvia; Hanna Kannelmäe (Eeben Früülep), Maxx Toxic, MajorDanger, Ms Elsa, Helgi Saldo and Wickler Wilde from Estonia; King A and Querelle from Lithuania.
The exhibition opens on 25 August at 18.00, later in the evening, there will be a drag show in the courtyard of Aparaaditehas by members of the Collective. Also, on the same evening, there will be Gallery Night and Aparaaditehas Festival in the old factory building and nearby.
By celebrating the exhibition in Tartu, the public programme will include the coronation of the Baltic Drag King 2023 at Genklubi on 16 September, in cooperation with the club’s Vikerruum queer nightlife series. There will be also other events, more information about them can be later found on the gallery’s social media channels.
Kogo Gallery is located at Aparaaditehas, Kastani 42 in Tartu, Estonia, the gallery is open for visits on Wed–Fri at 13–19 and on Sat at 13–18. The exhibition will remain open until 21 October.
Drag Yourself Here is part of Kogo Gallery’s this year’s programme Queer It Up which celebrates all that is positioned as fluid, different, unidentifiable, glitchy, marginal and uncomfortable.
The exhibition is funded by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, the City of Tartu, the State Culture Capital Foundation of Latvia, Nordic Culture Point Mobility Funding Program and VV Foundation.
Special thanks to Lisett Kruusimäe and Laura Barbo.
Curator: Mētra Saberova
Artists and contributors: Mētra Saberova (Timmy), Krista Saberova, Edgars Tabaks, Ilze Vēze-Balode (Henry Oak), Mailo Štern, DJ Lévi, Marss The Person, Vincent Hemingay, Dawn (K!NK), Niko Rain (Bazilix), Vencheska Baltique and Vivianna Maria Stanislavska from Latvia; Hanna Kannelmäe (Eeben Früülep), Maxx Toxic, MajorDanger, Ms Elsa, Helgi Saldo and Wickler Wilde from Estonia; King A and Querelle from Lithuania
Exhibition programme curator: Šelda Puķīte
Production and public programme: Stella Mõttus
Administration: Liina Raus
Communication: Karin Kahre, Kristlyn Liier
Graphic design: Aleksandra Samulenkova
Documentation: Roman-Sten Tõnissoo (exhibition views), Luisa Greta Vilo (opening)
Translation and language editing: Refiner Translations
Baltic Drag King Collective (est. 2019) is a fluid community of drag performance artists from Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania that uses drag as a platform for deconstructing and reinventing gender, educating society, and bringing visibility to the LGBTQ+ community, with a special focus on the performance of masculinity and the representation of women, trans and non-binary identities. Activities include producing drag shows, running workshops, and arranging lectures and discussions. The Collective has networked and cooperated with other queer activists, artists, researchers and organisations from the Baltics, the UK, Germany, Poland, Sweden, Finland, Moldova and Ukraine. They have produced drag shows at Riga Pride, Kaunas Pride and Vilnius Pride and have been holding an annual coronation of the Baltic Drag King since 2019.
www.instagram.com/balticdragking, www.facebook.com/BalticDragKing
Mētra Saberova (b. 1991) is a Latvian queer feminist performance and moving-image artist. Mētra has used her own orchestrated experiences of medical tourism and bodily interventions to encourage discussions about the female body and its capabilities. Mētra gained her BA at the Art Academy of Latvia and completed her postgraduate studies at Central Saint Martins in London. Her focus is the scene in Riga, a natural rallying point for the young Latvian feminist artist and activist generation. As the co-founder and manager of the Baltic Drag King Collective (est. 2019) Mētra has succeeded in introducing, maintaining and expanding a whole artistic and nightlife industry in the Latvian and Baltic region with the help of drag performers who embrace and push forward gender expression through the performance of masculinity. The establishment of this expanded drag network has been an important milestone for both the queer community and mainstream society in their efforts to widen the reach of queer art and queer messaging, and to provide new and sustainable opportunities in the cultural sector for marginalised performers.
www.metrasaberova.com
