New taxonomies of artistic practice extend further from the artwork and equally blend identity, community building, theory and pedagogy. Taka Taka self-identifies as a ‘drag thing’ who mainly produces performances for the iconic Amsterdam drag space House of Hopelezz. An artist and theorist, Taka Taka organises weekly queer parties focused on the marginal LGBTQA community. The mainstream LGBTQ+ Pride culture and Gay Amsterdam scene now becoming commodified and exploited, the decay and gradual closure of the Red District and its alternative BDSM and cruising clubs are turning Amsterdam into a sterilised, conservative capital. The new distinction between sexuality and identity, the hybrid scene of queer and drag performers distancing themselves from past stereotypes such as lip-syncing and its move towards social activism is what lays the foundation for a fieldwork of Radical Care. The House of Hopelezz is becoming a refuge for the political and gender asylum seekers, for the virus positive, for the misfits and the party animals. The undercommons meet the club scene. Taka Taka moves freely between drag clubbing and into dragctivism and radical education. Being a theorist themselves, Taka Taka explores para-education and offers alternative renditions of queer and contemporary art practices. Taka Taka is a Drag Daughter of Jennifer Hopelezz, a Drag Sister of others and a Drag Mother of a few other Drags. Drag Mothering as a form of care is in the focus of Taka Taka’s performative lectures. The marginalised communities act as testing grounds offering lessons of self-organising and self-support.

MOTHERS MOTHERING MOTHERS, 2021
Performative lecture, installation, 180’
Courtesy of the artist
Commissioned and produced by the Athens Biennale