Posted by ulla on Friday, June 19, 2009,
In :
Music
 Melanie Lowe ... the spiky haired girl we all speculated about on the first series of South African Idols, the one whose (male) fiancé didn't stop us speculating, finally came out of the closet in June's O Magazine - a skillful way to let the world at large know something that we, the queer community, have been widely aware of for years now. South Africa's LGBTQ community is a relatively small one and a lot of it is in the closet due to cultural taboo - corrective rape within some segments ...
Posted by ulla on Monday, March 2, 2009,
In :
Music
By Ulla Kelly
Deb Adler has been entertaining diverse audiences professionally for over forty years. Trained in both music and theater, Deb's performance background includes everything from glee clubs, choruses, and classical choral unions, to folk groups, to solo performances.
You've been out and singing about it for a long time now – what are the biggest changes you've noticed?
Definitely the integration into mainstream. When I started performing as a "Lesbian-feminist singer-songwriter... Continue reading ...
Posted by ulla on Saturday, February 28, 2009,
In :
Music
With her new CD, “Papercuts” coming
out in South Africa at the end of the month, it seemed like a great
time to talk to Karma; a firm favourite amongst South Africans since
the nineties and Henry Ate. I asked her about American things, South
African things, queer things - and things about how she writes the kind
of songs that stick in your heart and mind forever. Unfortunately, I
completely forgot to ask her how many of her fans are Buddhist. 2008
has seen her play on three continents ... Continue reading ...
Posted by ulla on Saturday, February 28, 2009,
In :
Drag
23
10
2008
 - HRH Nomi Perron
Drag queens make me think of disco
balls rotating lazily, filling rooms with sparkles. They make me think
of high heels, lipstick, cabaret and beautiful, brave people. The
general preconception is that they’re all wannabe women, as camp as a
row of pink tents. Until I photographed drag queens at Joburg Pride
recently, I’ve never had much personal contact with them at all, apart
from the odd giggle together at a gay... Continue reading ...
Posted by ulla on Friday, February 27, 2009,
In :
Film
Based on the award-winning novel of the same name, The World Unseen is
described as, "A moving and passionate love story set against a
backdrop of 1950’s apartheid". Magically penned by Shamim Sarif and
brought to life by her life partner and producer, Hanan Kattan, The
World Unseen is a human drama inspired by the stories of Sarif’s
grandmother’s life.
The World Unseen features free-spirited Amina (Sheetal Sheth, who
has broken all the rules of her own conventional Indian community, ... Continue reading ...
Posted by ulla on Monday, February 23, 2009,
In :
Photography
 Richard Renaldi’s “Gay and Lesbian Elderly”
series of black and white photographs of gay senior citizens is one of
those timeless little collections that lurk in your mind long after
you’ve closed the browser. The reason for this, I think, is Richard’s
empathy with his subjects. He’s gay and so are they. What he points out
eloquently is their dignity. What we need to do, as a community, is
simply take more notice of our elders. How many of us bother to seek
out mentors and friends...
Posted by ulla on Monday, February 23, 2009,
In :
Music
By Ulla Kelly (Photos: Ulla Kelly & Sue Charlton)
The Magic of Pegasus are:
S: Sean la Bang
G: Graeme Newlove
They’re also fun, quirky, oddly sexy (hey I’m a lesbian!) and incredibly alive and intense on stage. They’re the kind of band you just know it’s going to be a laugh to interview. They call their music theatrical, homo-electro - and they’re right.
The day after seeing your gig at Joburg Pride, I read your interview in SL magazine and it raised one vital question - how... Continue reading ...
| Got something subcultural (heh!) to share? Use the contact page and let me know - if it's interesting, your interview might just appear here and on a website or two that I write for. Most interviews here appeared on queerlife.co.za with the exception of The World Unseen, which was commissioned by mambagirl.com. Some interviews have been republished on cherrygrrl.com All interviews from the March 29th one onwards are up for grabs - use the contact form to liaise.
Great news, my interview with The World Unseen people was the cover story of the South African Big Issue March 6 2009. |
