Kübra Uzun, MUSTKİKA, Akış Ka

The Barbican Centre | London, United Kingdom

Transpose BURN: Pit Party is the platform's first international collaboration, inviting three artists from Turkey - Kübra Uzun, Must Kika and Akış ka - to join London-based creatives to produce work that emphasizes both individual and collective expression. Transpose has been a vital and expansive LGBT+ event since its inception and has grown to welcome audiences from across the UK, with some travelling from international destinations to attend. The concept of Transpose: BURN centres on the idea of a travelling performance troupe, rooting the work in storytelling, imagination weaving, music, spontaneity, and noise. The performers are as reliant on the audience as the audience are on the performers, and there is a strong sense of space sharing and legacy building.

 Transpose was founded by artistic director CN Lester in 2011 and has spent over a decade celebrating, promoting, and platforming the wide-ranging talents of the UK trans community. This edition is curated and directed by performer, activist and musician Dani Dinger and aims to explore the building blocks of a shared culture, trans identities and offers a direct challenge to the status quo. In the words of CN, it’s a space in which ‘we can show you our vulnerabilities, our strengths, and – most of all – our authenticity.’

Istanbul-based singer, songwriter, performance artist and DJ, Kübra Uzun is an LGBTQIA+ rights activist, working in Turkey and also on an international basis on various platforms. Kübra wrote, sang and produced the song title ‘ALAN2020’ with Mx. Sür and it became an anthem during Istanbul Pride in June 2020. In December 2020 Kübra Uzun performed ‘A Trans History Sung’, a digital monument directed by Onur Karaoglu, in collaboration with Volksbühne Berlin digital season: Next Waves Theatre. They worked with Simon(e) van Saarloos to create an audio work ‘Cruising Gezi Park’ which is shown in the exhibition titled ‘Refresh Amsterdam’ at Amsterdam Museum from December 2020 til June 2021. In January 2021 they recorded ‘Koli Kanonu’, originally Mozart’s KV 560, and shot the video directed by Efe Durmaz – performing all four of the different voices and characters by themselves. In March 2022 they recorded ‘Jülyet’s Habanera’, originally Bizet’s Habanera from Carmen, and again shot the video directed by Efe Durmaz. In November 2022 they performed ‘Ah Bu Şarkıların Gözü Kör Olsun’ under the performance series titled ‘Everything, Everything, Everything’ within the programme of ‘90s on Stage’ exhibition at SALT Galata. Kübra Uzun is also the coordinator of Through The Window Project: an online project aiming to gather queer artists, thinkers and night workers from Turkey, The Netherlands, and beyond, and co-founder and co-curator of XSM Recordings: the revolutionary mothering project that expands and queers the boundaries of definitions, welcoming the opening of spaces and commune liberation as a record label, event series, arts platform and solidarity projects since June 2020.

MUSTKIKA was born in Istanbul and graduated from Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University Textile Design. Kika has been a make-up artist since 2010. In the last few years, they started to concentrate on stage works by using their skills on make-up, textile and dance. During the pandemic times, they created a series of erotic textile surface works. As a multi-skilled drag performer, Kika has been on stage in various platforms of Istanbul since 2018. In 2020, they took a part as an actor in the short film titled ‘Free Fun’. The film premiered at Human Rights Company DC, in which Kika was also invited as a speaker. Kika stared in the Pride special short film “limbo” for Nowness in 2022.

Akış Ka is a character, perhaps a monster, who wanders between the walls of binary genders and even breaks those walls. She is an out of place, and thanks to you, a timeless player. She started performing as a drag queen as a hobby in 2017. Over time, she transcended her drag persona and started her professional productions in 2020, which shaped her entire life. Before the pandemic, Akış made a name for herself with her drag performance at Dudakların Cengi (The Battle of the Lips) and Istanbul LGBTI+ Pride Parties, but she started to work in other avenues during the pandemic. She released her single ‘Sana Bir Sır Vereyim Mi?’ (‘Shall I Give You a Secret?’) in 2020 and focused on works accessible to everyone. She started to produce video content on the Alt Cut YouTube channel in 2021. Since then, she has become a public figure who uses humor to draw attention to political issues. She narrated her struggle for trans existence with her HoşGeldin (‘Welcome’) performance at Salt’s 90s on Stage exhibition in 2022. Her recent works have focused on inspirational trans stories.

About The Barbican Centre

The Barbican is one of Europe’s leading multi-arts venues, encompassing two galleries, two theatres, a concert hall, and three cinemas. Our mission is to be London’s Creative Catalyst for arts, curiosity and enterprise. Our goal is to spark creative possibilities for artists, audiences and communities by inspiring, connecting and provoking debate. In a typical year, over a million people visit the Barbican to enjoy exhibitions, performances, screenings and talks delivered by thousands of artists from across the world. Our learning and outreach programmes offer development and enrichment opportunities for children, young people, families, and artists, whilst engaging some of the most vulnerable members of our community through the arts.