Legacy Ball bringing the spirit of Kewpie back to District Six

The inaugural annual Kewpie Legacy Ball, held in collaboration with the District Six Museum and GALA Queer Archive, sets out to honour South African queer ancestry with a contemporary interpretation of Ball culture.

Legacy Ball brings the spirit of Kewpie back to District Six

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The Kewpie Legacy Ball will take place on 11 March 2023 at the Homecoming Centre in District Six.

Organisers of the event told TheSouthAfrican.com: “The Kewpie Legacy Ball aims to connect contemporary ballroom culture with a rich historical archive that captures the life of Kewpie— an iconic queer figure from the Apartheid era, who has come to be known as the Daughter of District Six.

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“Long since scattered, District Six is remembered for its unique spirit of place. This was a society that valued diversity and had a thriving and beloved queer community in spite of prevailing governmental oppression.  

“The photographs that comprise the Kewpie collection reinforce our understanding of this lesser-known aspect of District Six’s history as an extraordinary place where gender non-conforming people were largely accepted, with the right to express themselves as they wished. 

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“Many of the themes revealed in the archive are deeply relevant to contemporary discourse on LGBTQIA+ rights in South Africa and the world today. In as much as the Kewpie collection is celebratory of their life and resilience, it is also a manifestation of collective loss, pain and struggle.”

Bringing the Ball to you

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The Legacy Ball aims to put Ballroom in a contemporary South African setting.

“Our aim is to present and educate on the tradition of ballroom — a primary driver of queer culture which arose as a safe place for queer people of colour from disadvantaged backgrounds to engage in radical self-expression. 

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“Ballroom is a performance methodology, originating in NYC in the 1960s.

“Pioneered by African American and Latin X queer and trans individuals, The Ball cultivates a space in which gender expression, voguing and drag pageantry is revered and celebrated.  

“Through the lens of the relationship that existed between a trans feminine heroine and the value system of their hometown community, we are able to utilise ballroom culture as a restorative platform for the experience of marginalised bodies.  

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“The Kewpie Ball serves to conclude the pilot of an educational workshop series developed for underprivileged queer youth from Cape Town, who reside in the Cape Flats, and other areas that are intrinsically linked to the forced removals from District Six. 

“The programme will introduce attendees to the archive and expose them to a dynamic and creative curriculum geared towards intergenerational learning and artistic skills development. This initiative will allow young people to access their own history and participate in the creation of a contemporary living archive through which they may tell their own stories and express their identities. 

“We are bringing Kewpie’s legacy back to District Six.”

Tickets to the Kewpie Legacy Ball are available on Quicket.

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