The Queer Arabs – Page 52 – The Queer Arabs

Bita Bell is an international multimedia artist-activist working in contemporary dance, music, and film. Born in Iran and educated in Hong Kong and the United States, she creates audio-visual performative experiences that question contemporary issues. Just prior to the current lockdown, she was choreographing for the Russian feminist punk band PussyRiot’s US tour.

Bita joined us for a wonderful conversation on engaging audiences through interactive performance, maintaining mental health and creativity in quarantine, and what it means to belong to many places and none. Check out more of her work at bitabell.com.

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Lisa Luxx is a queer poet, essayist and activist of mixed British Syrian heritage. Published in journals, newspapers and anthologies internationally including with publishers such as Hatchette and SAQI. Her work has been broadcast on BBC Radio 4, VICE TV and TEDx. Luxx was winner of Out-Spoken Prize for Performance Poetry and nominee for the Arts Foundation Fellowship in Poetry. Founder and host of The Sisterhood Salons, a feminist literary gathering. She splits her time between the English countryside and the city of Beirut. We were so excited to have her on the podcast to discuss and read some of her work! We talked about reclaiming lineage through storytelling as a mixed-race adopted person, the challenges of balancing authenticity and privacy in personal work, complicating simplistic “gratitude” narratives surrounding adoption and immigration in the media, the Beirut’s queer art scene, and more!

Follow Lisa on IG @luxxy_luxx
Twitter @lisaluxx_
Facebook page: Lisa Luxx

Photo credit: Maria Klenner

Podcast: The Queer Arabs

Episode 112 [in English]: Bita Bell

Episode 111 [in English]: Lisa Luxx!