Gangrenous glamour! Fabulous filigree! For this event at the V&A we hosted a cabaret showcasing eclectic acts from artists working at the forefront of queer, trans, and non-binary performance. From aesthetic dissidents to feminist dandies, we asked: How might decadence be fabricated as an art of dissent? How might decadent garments be stitched, and dissolute stories weaved? And what are we to make of the decadent’s fascination with femme fatales, the undoing of gender, and ‘the Orient’?

Featuring live performances from Hasard Le Sin, Jolie Papillon, Lilly Snatchdragon, E. M. Parry and Nando Messias (with music by CN Lester and garment design by Max Allen and Elliot Adcock); films by Angel Rose Denman and jaamil olawale kosoko; and with Sadie Sinner as our esteemed MC.

This event was made possible thanks to funding from the University of Brighton, the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), part of UKRI, and the V&A, and with institutional support from Goldsmiths, University of London.

https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/36304