17c起草社区

The UNSW Bookshop will be the venue for the launch of Dr Kerryn Drysdale’s new book, Intimate Investments in Drag King Cultures: The rise and fall of a lesbian social scene, on Friday from 6pm, which looks back Sydney’s drag king scene of the late 90s, 2000s and early 2010s.

Drysdale will be joined on the night by legendary drag king producers and performers DJ Sveta, Jayvante Swing and D-Vinyl to talk about the emergence of Sydney’s drag king scene, its eventual decline, and the future potential of drag.

Music on the night will be provided by Kate Doherty. The event is free but registration is essential.

Ahead of the launch, Drysdale told the 17c起草社区 about the emergence of the drag king phenomena in Australia.

鈥淪ydney鈥檚 drag king scene took place within a longer trajectory of mobile place-making for lesbian and queer women,鈥� Drysdale said.

“By the mid-1990s, momentum was building behind the urge to create a local version of the types of drag king cultures taking place elsewhere in the world.鈥�

鈥淗owever, it was a series of competition nights, Drag King Sydney (better known as DSKY) between 1999 and 2000, that is widely credited as mobilising interest in the creation of a distinctive drag king culture.鈥�

鈥淪ydney鈥檚 local drag king scene then became more firmly associated with the social culture that quickly developed around Newtown鈥檚 Wednesday 鈥楧yke Night鈥�, when Sexy Galexy (who had also competed in the DKSY competitions), together with well-known DJ Sveta, established Kingki Kingdom in 2002 (renamed Queer Central in 2006). 鈥�

Drysdale attributed a number of factors to the demise of the Sydney drag king scene.

鈥淭he role of gentrification, coupled with the rising political ambivalence of claiming a non-heterosexual identity, have led to contemplation of a ‘post-gay’ era,鈥� she said.

鈥淭he increasing economic instability of LGBTIQ social ventures has seen a number of formerly iconic bars, festivals, bookshops and other sites for lesbian and queer women close.鈥�

鈥淪ydney鈥檚 drag king scene emerged under the difficult conditions of commercial instability, where promoters and performers poured their hearts and souls into the running of events with little guarantee of economic sustainability.鈥�

鈥淎s such, the 鈥榗an-do鈥� attitude at the heart of the scene鈥檚 DIY ethos is very difficult to sustain. Time passes and things change, again.鈥�

However a number of recent events have given Drysdale hope that the drag kings can return, albeit in a new way.

鈥淟ately, Sydney has seen a resurgence of interest in drag king performances as part of a new cultural landscape, with pop-up events circulating across a number of sites,鈥� she said.

鈥淏ut, rather than begrudge the kings鈥� rise from the dead, this burgeoning development further indicates the importance of paying attention to the social networks that drag cultures are likewise enmeshed.鈥�

鈥淎t the same time, there are crucial differences between this emerging drag king culture and those that led to the formation of the drag king scene I鈥檝e described in the book.

The drag king performances over the past year have been mobile events, more akin to pop-ups or where drag kings feature sporadically, than a regular run seen at Queer Central over half a decade ago.鈥�

鈥淎mid continuing debates over whether ‘lesbian’ has salience within the more queered gender ideals of the twenty-first century, will the return of the king bring back the lesbian in Sydney?鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 too early to tell, and in any case, the precise conditions that characterised Sydney鈥檚 drag king scene in its heyday can never be entirely replicated 鈥� it is the end of an era!鈥�

To register to attend the August 30 event

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