Berlin collective creates space for queer Arab identity through drag and debate

A Berlin collective is building community around queer Arab culture through drag performances, music events and public discussion, while challenging the racism and homophobia its members say can accompany their identities. ADIRA, founded in 2023, recently held the third edition of its drag festival in the German capital. The collective’s name comes from “adira”, an Arabic slang term in Levantine queer culture for someone with a powerful or accomplished presence.

ADIRA uses the term broadly: its asterisked description includes non-Arab ethnic minorities and people with diverse identities and roots across Southwest Asia and North Africa, according to DW. This year’s festival, held in late October under the theme “Who’s Your Diva?!”, featured performers paying tribute to figures from the Eastern Mediterranean who have become queer icons. The inspirations included Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum, Turkish performer Bülent Ersoy and Lebanese pop star Haifa Wehbe.

Hassandra, ADIRA’s Lebanese co-founder and a drag performer, appeared as Lebanese singer Elissa. They told DW that bringing Lebanese Arab identity into their work mattered because the culture offered “campy, glamorous, beautiful divas”. Hassandra described Elissa’s music as romantic and soft, while contrasting it with the singer’s public reputation for being blunt and politically outspoken.

That contrast was central to the performance. Hassandra said the act engaged with Elissa’s controversial political views and with the broader tendency among queer audiences to idealise pop stars. The festival, they said, offered a way to examine those figures more critically rather than treating any singer, politician, party or activist as someone to follow without question.

Hassandra was born in Beirut in 1994 and studied theatre and stage acting at the Lebanese University before moving to Berlin in 2017. They told DW that Lebanon’s worsening economic situation contributed to what they described as an impulsive decision to leave at the age of 22. In Berlin, Hassandra became involved in the independent arts scene and queer nightlife, with drag developing into another form of theatrical expression.

Their performances combine political humour, grotesque aesthetics, theatrical intensity and tenderness, while exploring home, nostalgia, displacement and queer Arab culture. ADIRA’s programme extends beyond performances. Hassandra founded it with Syrian-German DJ and cultural producer Zuher Jazmati, also known as xanax_attax, and the collective organises panel discussions as well as music and club events intended to encourage participation and mutual support.

DW reported that the group’s role has become more significant as Islamophobia and homophobia rise alongside the far right. Hassandra said the deadly Islamist attack at Berlin’s Christopher Street Day pride parade in July left them caught between their Arab and queer identities. They expressed sadness over the attack while rejecting racism directed at Arab people, arguing that the community was being used as a “punching bag”.

Their response was a call for a safer Germany for everyone rather than for hatred. “There’s place for everyone,” Hassandra said, adding that ADIRA’s work seeks to make room for the complexity of queer Arab lives rather than forcing people to choose between parts of their identity.