Et Alors? Magazine 12

et alors?
a f l a m b o y a n t m a g a z i n e

Darlings,
As you may or may not know, last June we moved
from rainy Belgium to the south of Spain. And to
be totally honest, at times it has been more of an
adjustment as we ever thought it would be. In a
good way, of course.
We now live in a small village on top of a mountain
where food is something that grows on a field
(instead of the supermarket) and is taken up the
mountain by donkeys, since no car is able to drive up
those steep stairs. Furthermore we’re surrounded
by open-minded Norwegian people -who bought
their houses here way back in the ‘70’s in order to get
away from the industrialized way of living in their
home country- and some (very) old native citizens
who have been referring to us as Las Dos Chicas
(the two girls) since the day we came to live here.
Without any judgment whatsoever. Au contraire.
When we explain the content of our magazine to
our 75-year-old neighbors, they look at us in utmost
bewildering. Since for them, there is no such thing
as a difference between two women, two men, or
a man and a woman living together. We are talking
catholic Spain here. Nevertheless it’s been ages
since we’ve met this kind of open-mindedness
beyond our circle of friends and interviewees.
Sometimes it even feels like we’re living in a bubble
over here. Reading those negative thoughts on
homosexuality on the internet or hearing about
republicans passing a ‘license to discriminate’ bill
that would give just about anyone the right to
002 et alors?

editorial 12
‘When we explain the content of
our magazine to our 75-year-old
neighbors, they look at us in utmost
bewildering. Since for them, there
is no such thing as a difference
between two women, two men, or
a man and a woman living together.
We are talking catholic Spain
here...’
refuse service to LGBT people if it conflicted with
their religious beliefs (in Michigan, if you would
want to know). It feels like we’re parked into this
other dimension all of a sudden.
But isn’t that an ironic thought? Feeling safe, not
being judged, free to walk hand in hand with your
same sex partner and realizing that this is the
exception? The longer we live here, the more we get
convinced this is the world as it is supposed to be. A
world filled with people you are going to read about
in our 12th issue. Making amends for the most
gorgeous dragqueens like Christopher Logan does
in his D.r.a.g. book. Or growing up a muslim and
trying to slap the gay away like beautiful filmmaker
Rolla Selbak. Feeling supported by Sir Ian McKellen
when making a movie about gay acceptance in
football called Wonderkid, or being the eternal
queen of performance like Zu Browka.
Once again we offer you a magazine filled with openmindedness,
empathy and a dash of childishness.
And yes, we are staying! In this village that gives us
inspiration on how life ought to be. And yes, maybe
we are beyond reality. But then again, as adepts of
the writer Murakami we totally believe in beauty
without any logic. Feel free to tag along and share
this magazine with anyone you like. And beware
of the fact that you actually can change the world
you live in, that you can make a difference. Have a
wonderful 2015!
Keep safe, stay gorgeous!
Fleur & Julian
et alors? 003

et alors? magazine
december 2014
issue 12
editor in chief
fleur pierets
art director & layout
julian p. boom
contributors
aaron labaki
alex reyes
apuje kalu
austin young
beverli alford
bruce weber
cortney barnes
criaturas
edwin irizarry
erwin olaf
fotocode
joseph reihart
leah sarah basset
magnus hastings
maria kleopatra
nicholas jang
piek
rolla selbak
roxanne bauwens
saskia de tollenaere
sheena chickering
vivian maier
wakko
wim godderis
table of contents
editorial
table of contents
expo
editors’ readings
christopher logan
wonderkid
zu browka
rolla selbak
roxanne bauwens
criaturas
kanithea powell
bruce weber
gay & night
weaven’s world
vivian maier
websites
002
004
006
008
010
022
030
040
048
058
066
074
078
084
088
090
et alors? magazine 2014
www.etalorsmagazine.com
004 et alors?

et alors? magazine is a quarterly
free publication. independently
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all rights reserved.
reproduction of any part of this
magazine is strictly prohibited
without prior permission from the
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where all the credits associated to
imagery, illustration and/or text
are included.
the views expressed in et alors?
magazine are those of the
respective contributors and are
definitely shared by the magazine
and its staff.
for submissions & everything else
info@etalorsmagazine.com
fleur & julian say thanks to
wim van cappellen at reporters.be
renate breuer
paperself for providing those beautiful lashes for the editorial shoot
ingrid van den bossche
cover model
name anne marie lampens
location brugge, belgium
talents 60 but forever young, mixandmatcher and lover of the quote ‘if to love
is to die I want to die a thousand times’.
website www.facebook.com/anne.lampens
photography julian p. boom
concept fleur pierets
model anne marie lampens
mua maria kleopatra
et alors? 005

fashion rules at kensington palace
Look through the exquisite and elegant wardrobes
of The Queen, Princess Diana and Princess Margaret
and discover how royal style has changed since
the 1950s. Fashion Rules at Kensington Palace is a
fascinating exploration of how these three royal
women adopted fashion trends in their heydays –
but always within the ‘rules’ of a royal wardrobe.
See how HM Queen Elizabeth II adopted a nipped-in
waist in the 1950s; Princess Margaret stepped out
in daring short skirts in the 1960s and 1970s; and
Diana, Princess of Wales sparkled in embellishments
and shoulder pads in the 1980s. Laid out over five
rooms, the exhibition features 21 couture dresses,
plus nostalgic film and photography from each
period.
araki photography for the afterlife: alluring hell
Araki is one of the most celebrated Japanese artists
of our time. He is noted for his seemingly detached
bondage-photographs. Simultaneously his work is
very intimate and personal, often closely related to his
hometown Tokyo and to the memories of his late wife
Yoko. Photography for the Afterlife: Alluring Hell, gives
a distinct reflection on the oeuvre of the Japanese
photographer (Tokyo, 1940). The extensive exhibition
comprises both his notorious early work, as well as his
very recent series that have never been shown in the
Netherlands before. The unique presentation follows
an international heavyweight in the dusk of his life. The
exhibition is made in cooperation with Galerie Alex
Daniëls / Reflex Amsterdam.
kensington palace, london (uk)
july 4 – january 1, 2015
photo © kensington palace
www.hrp.org.uk
foam, amsterdam (nl)
december 19 – march 11, 2015
photo © nobuyoshi araki
www.foam.org
006 et alors?

expo
the future of fashion is now
The latest generation of fashion designers takes a
critical view of the current fashion system. Do we
actually want a new wardrobe every six months
or can fashion last longer? Does the fit of a dress
have to satisfy the prevailing ideal of beauty or
might it be different? What is fashion’s role in the
advance of wearable technology like Google Glass?
They are coming up with innovative solutions and
fresh designs at the cutting edge of fashion and
art. Sustainability, futuristic technologies and the
social value of clothes are themes with which these
designers address the fashion of the future. Museum
Boijmans Van Beuningen is showing the fashion
of the future, with work by designers including
Viktor&Rolf, Christophe Coppens (Belgium), Hussein
Chalayan (Cyprus) and Rejina Pyo (Korea).
robert gober: the heart is not a metaphor
The first large-scale survey of Robert Gober’s career
to take place in the United States. Gober rose to
prominence in the mid-1980s and was quickly
acknowledged as one of the most significant
artists of his generation. Early in his career he
made deceptively simple sculptures of everyday
objects—beginning with sinks before moving on
to domestic furniture such as playpens, beds, and
doors. In the 1990s, his practice evolved from single
works to theatrical room-sized environments. The
exhibition includes around 130 works; drawings,
prints, and photographs. The loosely chronological
presentation traces the development of this
remarkable body of work, highlighting themes and
motifs that emerged in the early 1980s and continue
to inform Gober’s work today.
museum boijmans van beuningen, rotterdam (nl)
until january 18, 2015
photo © jouke bos
www.boijmans.nl
moma, new york (us)
september 17 – february 02, 2015
photo © untitled leg 1989–90 robert gober
www.moma.org
et alors? 007

stone mattress: nine tales
margaret atwood
Margaret Atwood turns to short fiction with nine
tales of acute psychological insight and turbulent
relationships. Recently widowed fantasy writer is
guided through a stormy winter evening by the voice
of her late husband, a man who bids on an auctioned
storage space has a surprise, a woman born with a
genetic abnormality is mistaken for a vampire, an
elderly lady with Charles Bonnet syndrome comes to
terms with the little people she keeps seeing, while a
newly formed populist group gathers to burn down
her retirement residence. And a long-ago crime
is avenged in the Arctic via a 1.9 billion-year-old
stromatolite. In these nine tales, Margaret Atwood
is at the top of her darkly humorous and seriously
playful game.
the book of strange new things
michel faber
It begins with Peter, a devoted man of faith, as he
is called to the mission of a lifetime, one that takes
him galaxies away from his wife, Bea. Peter becomes
immersed in the mysteries of an astonishing new
environment, overseen by an enigmatic corporation
known only as USIC. His work introduces him to a
seemingly friendly native population struggling
with a dangerous illness and hungry for Peter’s
teachings—his Bible is their “book of strange new
things.” But Peter is rattled when Bea’s letters from
home become increasingly desperate: typhoons
and earthquakes are devastating whole countries,
and governments are crumbling. Bea’s faith, once
the guiding light of their lives, begins to falter.
knopf doubleday publishing
isbn 9780385539128
www.knopfdoubleday.com
www.margaretatwood.com
random house
isbn 9780553418842
www.randomhouse.com
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/michel_faber
008 et alors?

editors’ readings
the strange library
haruki murakami
All I did was go to the library to borrow some books’.
On his way home from school, the young narrator
of The Strange Library finds himself wondering
how taxes were collected in the Ottoman Empire.
He pops into the local library to see if they have a
book on the subject. This is his first mistake. Led to
a special ‘reading room’ in a maze under the library
by a strange old man, he finds himself imprisoned
with only a sheep man who makes excellent donuts
and a girl who can talk with her hands for company.
His mother will be worrying why he hasn’t returned
in time for dinner and the old man seems to have an
appetite for eating small boy’s brains. How will he
escape?
the children act
ian mcewan
Fiona Maye is a leading High Court judge who
presides over cases in the family court. She is
renowned for her fierce intelligence, exactitude,
and sensitivity. But her professional success belies
private sorrow and domestic strife. There is the
lingering regret of her childlessness, and now her
marriage of thirty years is in crisis. At the same
time, she is called on to try an urgent case: Adam,
a beautiful seventeen-year-old boy, is refusing for
religious reasons the medical treatment that could
save his life, and his devout parents echo his wishes.
Time is running out.
knopf doubleday publishing
isbn 9780385354301
www.knopfdoubleday.com
www.harukimurakami.com
random house canada
isbn 9780345809629
www.ianmcewan.com
www.penguinrandomhouse.ca
et alors? 009

© austin young

christopher
logan
text fleur pierets
et alors? 011

About seven months after one of our favorite
books came out, its publisher was going out of
business. Passionate about its content, respect
for the performers and certain about it’s power
to affect change made Christopher Logan start
all over again. It took him about a year to get his
ducks in a row. He cleaned out his credit line,
got a business loan and released the wonderful
book ‘dr.a.g.’ himself. We got him on Skype for a
conversation and found a kindred spirit.
So everything fell apart and you had to start over.
Yes, but I was determined. When the book was
launched for the first time I kept calling bookstores
in the US and Canada, sending the manager a
digital copy and when they liked it, I’d hook them
up with the distribution company. I have set up
200 bookstores myself and got to know them very
well. So in a way, without the publisher getting
bankrupted, without all those connections, I
wouldn’t know enough to be able to put out the
book myself afterwards. It was kind of a training
ground. I ended up contacting the distribution
company in the states and asked them if they would
take on the re-issue of the dr.a.g. book.
That sounds like a lot of work.
Yes, but worthwhile. I’m very passionate about
the book. I think it’s very beautiful and I would feel
miserable not to have it out to as many people
possible.
You consider dr.a.g. to be the first mainstream
book on drag.
It is. It’s not a dissection of why you do drag, it’s just
marvelling on how beautiful it is. Looking at the
beauty and the diversity of the pictures. Respectfully
honoring those artists who have actually made an
impact. In the book we never show anyone as a
boy. We didn’t want to show the transformation,
we wanted to show the final product. Every book
I’ve seen on drag before was explaining it. That way
it becomes a bit of a disclaimer; if you’re explaining
what you do, it get’s smaller. It is what it is. You can
take it in the positive, or the negative way. You can
start your own conversation, but it’s up to the reader
on how they want to take it. I think that no one has
ever made such a book. It makes drag normal and
you see it as you supposed to see it. You don’t pull
back the curtain. I’m one of those people who don’t
love the extra features on dvd’s. You know, when
you see the ‘behind the scenes’ things? I work as an
012 et alors?

© alex reyes

© magnus hastings

et alors? 015

actor in film and I love the illusion it creates. I don’t
want to see the wires and the strings and I don’t
want to know how things are done. I want to be
that kid who is lost in Oz, looking for the wizard and
believes that it’s all real. I don’t want to know that
it’s a factory, I want to actually see the wizard. I want
to believe in magic. When we show the dragqueens
at their very top level, you get to see the magic and
the illusion of it. It doesn’t get deconstructed into an
easy explainable thing.
What’s your personal passion when it comes to
drag?
I did drag for about 5 years when I started out as
an actor. I was trained in Los Angeles at the Stella
Adler academy and then moved up to Vancouver.
I had trouble getting an agent for a little while and
I got to know a few friends who where into drag
and started working with them. For me it fulfilled a
need to perform, to make a little money and get by.
But it also let out other sides of my personality and
character. Even if you’re not a gay man who grew
up ashamed of who you are or having to fight hard
to belong, you find things in drag that teach you
different bits and pieces of your personality that
you weren’t aware of. When you are putting on your
costume and your heels, you find your body change
in certain ways, even your voice starts to change.
You embody the character you’re creating. You put
so much effort into getting ready that over time you
create this fantastic image. And when people react
to you, they’re reacting to what you’ve created. It
teaches you to pay attention to the details you put
out in the world.
You played a dragqueen in a movie, which was
also an eye opener.
The movie called Connie and Carla and offered
me quite interesting insights. In the morning, the
transport guys and the crew, would be talking to
me about who they’d slept with that weekend,
about sports, very manly conversations. But then I
would go into the make-up trailer for two hours to
become a woman, dressed for the Oscars. And when
I came out, they would hold my hand as I was going
down the stairs. They where all smoking in front of
the door, and when I came forward, they slid their
cigarette behind their backs and opened the door
for me. They almost treated me like ‘40’s gentlemen
would do. And they didn’t know they where doing it!
‘The more you
affect change,
the more you
see that people
are just people
and not these
divisions that
separate us.’
It was almost a subconscious visual cue on how I was
dressed. It was really interesting.
Why is it important to you to show that drag is
normal?
Because it effects change and change is important
because it’s progression. We get to become more
than we already are. Everybody is afraid of the
unknown, afraid of the unfamiliar but everybody’s
been through that process where something they
didn’t know comes into their lives. And it changes
them in a positive way. It’s never the thing you
thought it was. You grow up thinking certain things
are bad and then you meet someone who’s supposed
to be on the wrong side of the tracks and it turns out
to be this lovely person with this full, rich life. So you
get past stereotypes. The more you affect change,
the more you see that people are just people and not
these divisions that separate us.
How are the reactions on the book?
I haven’t had a negative reaction at all. Everyone
has really taken it to heart. Every time I’ve seen
someone take the book, they don’t flip through it.
They go page by page, one at the time, through the
entire book. People are getting a lot of joy from it
and there are many conversations about how great
these artists are, how much respect they have for
what they do, while normally they talk about how
crazy and out-there drag is. When I relaunched
the book I started a company called BookTheFilm.
016 et alors?

© edwin irizarry

© nicholas jang

© edwin irizarry

‘The fact that I’m
an idiot helps me
a lot. I don’t see
the obstacles
until it’s too late,
but I’ll find a way
to deal with it.’
Making books to raise money for independent
film. And now it’s become a whole series of books.
The next book will be coming out next Spring and
has the same format as d.r.a.g., but with the top
burlesque stars in the world. Drag is men at their
most glamorous and burlesque does that for women,
so we’re going to see what happens.
The book itself started because you have written
a film on drag.
Originally it started as a fundraiser for a movie. I’ve
seen a lot of friends doing independent films, lose
their way during production. Going away from the
message they where trying to bring because they get
caught up in the mechanics of fundraising. In the end
they don’t end up as proud of the finished product as
they liked to or should be. So I thought if I created a
book on dragqueens, the money for the film would
actually come from people who actually love the
subject matter. It would be a little more pure.
What makes this movie different from others?
Every drag film I’d ever seen has a bit of a circus
element in it. Some ‘look how crazy this is’ kind of
feel, even a certain shock value. I think we’re past
that now. With Ru Paul’s drag race in anyone’s home,
people are more accepting about drag, which gives
us room for development. In most films on drag, the
act itself is the centerpiece. I want the centerpiece
to be a story about loss of identity. A story about a
character who looses his much older partner, who
is grieving and falls into the drag world. He ends up
hiding as a different character because he doesn’t
want to be himself, because himself is alone. He’s
surrounded by all these wonderful characters that
are screaming out loud who they really are and it
becomes a contrast showing the difference between
shining in drag and hiding in drag. The movie takes
place in the drag clubs so all those wonderful people
are just going to be themselves. You see them as
boys, you see them as girls, you see them as people
rather then a shiny object.
How did you get all those people involved?
The majority of people I actually contacted on
Facebook. I would write a note to someone I admired,
saying that I was doing this book and that they could
email me when interested. So everyone who’s into
the book actually spoke to me about it. They would
send me their favorite photos and connect me with
the photographer they loved. Because of the book,
we now have all those top performers who also want
to be part of the movie. We have the chance not to
make a drag movie, but The drag movie. As an actor
myself, I feel like for the first time I’m doing a movie
that actually is going to effect some change. That’s
the great thing about film and the entertainment
industry; you get the chance to show people who’ve
never seen this stuff before, what it’s actually about.
You make it all sound very easy but nevertheless
it’s a brave decision to do this all by yourself.
I don’t think that way. Ever since I was 6 years old
I wanted to be an actor and even though I just get
by sometimes, I’ve always done things that are
considered breaking the rules. But that’s because I
don’t know what the rules are. So the fact that I’m an
idiot helps me a lot. I don’t see the obstacles until it’s
too late, but I’ll find a way to deal with it. I actually
thought about taking a few courses in publishing but
then I had a few talks with myself – I’m a Gemini, I
do that – and I found out that the things in my life
work out well because I don’t know those rules. So
why learn them and box yourself in. If you get close
to a barrier, you figure out how to get over it. But if
you know the barrier is there, you might never lift
off. It’s that attitude that gets us through. There’s a
certain fearlessness when you don’t know that your
not supposed to be able to do it. Right?
www.bookthefilm.com
et alors? 021

wonderkid
text fleur pierets photos courtesy of rhys chapman
022 et alors?

There are 5000 footballers in the UK and not
one of them is openly gay. Clubs prevent players
from coming out because of an elegit increasing
commercial market value, which may be damaging
to both the sport as to its players. Not only clubs
and players, but also fans are not to be easily let of
the hook since homophobia is considered the last
bastion of hate on the terraces. Luckily many feel it
needs to be punished in the same way that racism
is. We all know the statistics but what if you are that
kid, standing on that field. Knowing what he knows
and trying to hide everything he is. How will that
affect a young star, trying to fulfill his potential?
Director Rhys Chapman co-wrote a script
with writer Terence Corless, a 20 minute short
film that aims to tackle homophobia in football.
The story follows a young gay professional
footballer coming to terms with his sexuality and
searching for acceptance in a hyper-masculine
environment. Wonderkid provides an insight into
the trauma caused by homophobia, and challenge
preconceptions about what it is to be ‘masculine’.
Wonderkid is not finished yet. They just reached
their Kickstarters goal to give it a go. Meanwhile
they already got backed up by The Kevin Spacey
foundation and Sir Ian McKellen, just to name some
influentials who carry a warm heart towards the
project. We join them and I talked to Rhys himself,
eagerly to follow the process of Wonderkid all the
way.
Tell me why?
I wanted to make something appealing to the
British audience, so I thought about doing
something on football. To make a movie about
a football player and the struggles he has. Not
only as a sportsman but also about going through
the difficulties of being an adolescent. The more
research I did into football, the more I realized how
bad the problem of homophobia is. It suddenly
made sense to form a story around all that. To
show the world how it would affect a young player.
How it leads to the destruction of his mental and
physical health.
A straight man, making a movie on a gay subject.
That’s quite inspiring.
I guess it is kind of strange. I love football and a lot
more people could love football if the atmosphere
wasn’t so offensive and macho. I grew up playing
and I was quite good when I was a kid so basically
it was due to my love of the sport. Yet the more
research I did when we first came up with the idea,
024 et alors?

the more I realized that homophobia in football
was an issue hidden in plain sight. Especially in
England, where people are very scared to talk
about things that might offend others. Things are
brushed under the carpet, if you like to call it that
way. So I was very keen to talk about that problem.
On how it would affect a young person at the top
of the game and how it can lead to the destruction
of his mental and physical health.
Apart from the gay angle, it almost sounds
autobiographical.
It’s a fictional film yet I can relate to a lot of issues.
I grew up in the countryside in England where
we weren’t educated on LGBT issues. It was just
not spoken about so that obviously results into
homophobia. It was an eye opener when I moved
to London to study arts management. I was
around a lot of different cultures and especially
lots of gay people and some transgenders. To
me it was kind of shocking looking back. To look
at my upbringing versus my life in London now,
the difference between a homophobic and an
acceptant environment.
How did people react during your research?
When we first got the project of the ground I
was struggling to get anyone in the game itself
to talk to me. But since I got everything moving
in January, it’s nice to see that a lot of things are
being done and talked about. There are a lot of
events going on to open up the dialogue and there
are a lot of people working very hard to make
football more inclusive; who talk to the world
about homophobia. Strangely enough football is
still a subject people are scared to touch, so I’m
very interested to see how things will go in the
next few years.
Is that your goal, to make a change?
et alors? 025

et alors? 027

When I set of as a filmmaker I found it important
to educate as well as to entertain. I feel that we
have a responsibility to show things that the
media cannot. I’m sure they are able to tell you
about the issue, but they can’t show you how a 20
year old would be affected by it. So that’s what
I’m trying to do here. I met a lot of people who
love football but who decided it’s not for them
because they’ve been bullied or worse as a result
of their sexual preference. We can use this film as
a tool for good. We are working with LGBT antiviolence
and hate crime charity Galop in order to
ensure that the film reflects real life situations.
Once the film is made we’re going to start working
on events and educational days. Play the film and
open up the conversation, hopefully make some
changes by doing so.
And football is a universal topic.
Indeed. Imagine being on holiday, even if you
don’t speak the language you make friends
because of the understanding of the sport. That’s
how powerful football can be. Same as film;
you create an entire reality on screen. I think
combining the two is quite a powerful way to
think about social change. Tackling homophobia
by communicating.
You received a grand from the Kevin Spacey
foundation.
I still can’t believe a lot of the things that are
happening. Spacey gave us a grand to help us get
the project going. We invested it in the video we
made at Wembley stadium, the website and the
marketing material. I made the video in order
to educate and to move people, to share the
Kickstarter campagne we launched. Not only to
get the money to make the film, but also to inform
people about the problem out there. A lot of people
are giving up their free time to help with the movie.
028 et alors?

Needless to say I’m very impressed that Ian
McKellen is the narrator of your trailer.
It’s mad and unbelievable but it just shows what
a nice man he is. I was invited at the London
Pride by Gay Gooners, the Arsenal Football
Club’s LGBT supporters group. It was a lovely
day and heartwarming day with thousands
of people celebrating who they are, without
judgment. I saw Ian McKellen just walking
around and I just went up to him and told him
what we were doing. It was a time in which we
were struggling to get things going and it really
helped motivate me to talk about it. He said I
should let him know if there was anything he
could do to help. We send the video to him with
me narrating it, asking what he thought. He said
he was blown away so he came in and recorded
the voice over. It really didn’t sink in until it was
done. Ian McKellen is probably one of the most
important gay activists of his generation and to
have his support.. It sais something to the world
that money can’t buy.
A project from the heart.
Indeed. A lot of people are surprised that I’m
straight and to the question why I’m doing this
I often say that love is something that everyone
can relate to. It’s something that a lot of straight
people take for granted. Being able to hold your
partners hand in the street or to kiss in public.
These are thing that a lot of people are denied
or at least made to feel like it isn’t correct. I
think love is a human right, not a privilege and
that’s the core message about what I want to do.
Football is the most played and most popular
sport in the world and I’m sure Wonderkid can
make a stand and can make a difference when it
comes to acceptance.
wonderkidfilm.co.uk
et alors? 029

© erwin olaf

zu
browka
text fleur pierets photos erwin olaf & piek
et alors? 031

Je suis une femme fatale
Je suis une animal
Je suis une cathedrale
Je suis asocial
Je suis terminale
Je suis ZU!
Flashback to August 1987. The soon to be legendary
club RoXY opened his doors and with house music
on the up, things where destined to take a radical
change. It’s reputation as a collective, creative
stage of self-expression crossed beyond Holland’s
borders and the club became famous for it’s
excessive shows, it’s insane decorations and daring
performances. In 1999, the Amsterdam based
cradle of avant-garde meets extravaganza, burned
down. Many who experienced the heydays of those
unlimited possibilities and libertarian lifestyle talk
about RoXY with great nostalgia. ‘We were one
big family’ and ‘nobody was a star, we were all the
same’ is most often heard. Yet there is always one
voice saying ‘yeah right, but I was the biggest star!’.
We meet Zu Browka in Amsterdam in the second
hand clothing shop where she works nowadays.
Tall, impressive, blond and very sweet; a true
bombshell. Born in a small village in Belgium, Zu
discovered who she wanted to be at the age of 12: ‘I
saw Amanda Lear perform ‘Follow Me’ on television
and it was like everything fell into place. I thought:
OK! Now I understand who I am! I’m Amanda Lear!
So I followed Amanda’s example and became a
very beautiful blond model myself’.
Zu first started performing in Berlin at ‘Dollywood’,
former ‘Chez Romy Haag’: ‘I started my career as
a showgirl, a performer in that cabaret. The place
was always filled with celebrities and since Romy
was a friend of David Bowie, he also became
one of my biggest fans’. Haag, another eccentric
underground queen, was one of the biggest names
in Berlin’s underground scene. She opened her
own kitsch, trashy nightclub, which was frequently
visited by artists like Bette Midler, David Bowie,
Freddy Mercury and Mick Jagger.
By that time Zu wanted to start her transition: ‘I
032 et alors?

© piek

‘The RoXY burned
down. Nobody got
killed but Zu was the
last person to leave
the building. She was
upstairs, doing her
make-up and thinking
she had a hot flash.
Meanwhile the roof
was on fire.’
almost never talk about my operation because
in my opinion I’m a woman. I don’t like the word
transgender because that’s too much of a box.
There is too much moaning on the subject matter’.
Her uncle Herman, who was a doctor, provided her
with hormones yet Zu got send from one hospital
to another: ‘In that time it was very difficult to have
a sex change and that’s why I looked for different
solutions’. Since Greece was known for easily
getting hormones at the pharmacy, Zu and her best
Berlin friend Zugar Moon went ahead: ‘In Greece
we started taking hormones in order to commence
with our transition, yet things quickly started to
turn for the worse’. In Mykonos they had to escape
from the island because they weren’t able to pay
their hotel bill so they went underground, into the
clubs and the brothels but finally got busted and
spend two years in prison. ‘After two years we got
released when Interpol got involved. Two years
of rape and torture by the police. I’m planning on
writing a book about it since things were beyond
the imaginable’.
Zugar Moon returned to Berlin where she
committed suicide and Zu returned to Amsterdam
in ’86 after a phone call by Joost van Bellen (one of
the resident dj’s and the artistic director at RoXY
– red.) who told her they were about to open a
new club and she could start as a performer: ‘So I
became the Roxy Princess! My shows were always
over the top but that’s what made me famous. I’ve
been yodeling out of my pussy, pulling meters of
dirty laundry out of my vagina and putting loads
of whipped cream cakes in places where the sun
doesn’t shine’.
The list of people Zu worked with during her RoXY
days is endless and impressive. She had an instant
click with Leigh Bowery, became one of Erwin
Olaf’s models and gave birth to a pig in Peter
034 et alors?

© erwin olaf

© erwin olaf

et alors? 037

© piek

‘ I used to have an
amazing body so it
was worth to show
off, yet the audience
never quite knew what
they saw. I didn’t used
to be 100% woman so
when I was doing a
striptease act, there
was always something
in the way. If you
know what I mean.’
Greenaway’s Prospero’s Books: ‘I have the feeling it
all kind of dropped in on me. I never looked for any
of this to happen but people saw me, heard about
me and that resulted in all those little assignments
and performances. I loved doing all those things
so one thing led to another. And when I was
standing on that stage, seeing people watch me
with those ecstatic eyes, I thought; well, it seems
like I’m doing a good job.’ The once-in-a-lifetime
experience that RoXY aimed for turned out to be
a huge success. The interior got changed every six
weeks and different artists, and the cabaretesque
and extravagant shows gave the place a unique
character.
‘One big family’ is an expression that comes with
talking about the club: ‘We all did it for free but we
were happy because we could drink all night long.
We were all very glad to have a second home like
that. It was always fun and always over the top. It
wasn’t a place where you could spot your average
go-go dancer, no, it always had to be bigger, more
colorful, more eccentric’. Zu felt at home, in the
company of like minded individuals and lost her
heart in the performances – most of the time naked
and shameless - she staged: ‘I’ve always been very
at ease when it comes to being nude. I used to have
an amazing body so it was worth to show off, yet
the audience never quite knew what they saw. I
didn’t used to be 100% woman so when I was doing
a striptease act, there was always something in
the way. If you know what I mean’. Zu got her final
operation in ’87, in the first two RoXY years: ‘All in
all it took me about 6 years before everything was
in order so that was quite some time. Luckily that’s
all over now so I’m already more than 20 years the
most beautiful woman in Amsterdam!’.
Pieter Giele, one of the club’s founders died in the
spring of ’99. While celebrating his funeral on June
21st., sparks from fireworks ended up in the climate
control system and burned down the club. Nobody
got killed but Zu was the last person to leave the
building. She was upstairs, doing her make-up and
thinking she had a hot flash. Meanwhile the roof
was on fire. The burning of the RoXY marked the
end of an era and that kind of atmosphere was
never to be found: ‘Let bygones be bygones, isn’t
that what they say? You have to move on in your
life. RoXY was there at exactly the right moment
and place, yet times have changed now. Maybe
times were more liberated back then and I don’t
know why things like that don’t happen anymore.
Nowadays everything is so clean and well behaved.
Nevertheless, I do think the Roxy was the only
place where such a thing was possible’.
Fortunately the iconic Zu didn’t end up together
with the club. Music has always been the love of her
life so she’s working as a dj now: ‘I won an award
for most sexy dj and I made a record with Les deux
Electriques called ‘Je suis Zu’. More than 20 years
later and Zu doesn’t begin to think of slowing
down. She often wonders if people are going to get
enough of her, yet they seem to be wanting more.
She’s hosting a show on Pinq radio called ‘Tete a
tete avec Zu’ and she’s writing a column for RAUWblog:
‘Let me tell you something, I will always be
the Queen of the RoXY, even after all these years.
And I never even think about retiring. I guess I’m
going to keep on doing things till I drop down dead.
Whether they like it or not!’
www.zubrowka-international.nl
et alors? 039

olla
selbak
text fleur pierets photos rolla selbak
et alors? 041

Up till now she has made 2 feature films, a bunch
of short films, a music video and 2 seasons of
‘Kiss her I’m famous’. The Spreecast ‘Grrls guide
to filmmaking’ in which she interviews female
movie directors, turned into a docu series and
she’s currently writing a TV-piece. I guess we
may call ourselves quite lucky that she found
the time to talk to us, but most of all she left
us highly inspired after our conversation about
independency, feminism and religion.
Why is it important to be an independent
filmmaker?
It’s very important to me because that’s mostly
the only way a lot of people can work right now. I
have a very independent spirit and the thought of
actually being merged into the Hollywood system
makes me cringe. The thing I hate about it is the
fact that you give up all control and that someone
else is telling you what to do. It makes good sense
though, because essentially it’s someone else’s
money so they want a minimum risk. Yet it really
stifles creativity. Obviously it would be ideal to have
your work in the television- or in Hollywood system
without having to compromise, since a lot more
people would be able to see your work.
So the internet is sufficient at the moment?
At this point, this is where my heart is. I think for
filmmakers not to put their work online, if they’re
independent like me, doesn’t make any sense. How
is the audience going to know you? Who are you,
where are you? You can’t just do only film festivals
anymore and the internet is the most beautiful tool
in the world. You can play. Everyone can see your
work and hear your voice, I think it’s the best way
to experiment. So before you send that script to
Hollywood, to the show networks, it’s a great way
for you to understand what your audience likes
and doesn’t like. You can see which episodes have
the highest rating, you see the comments, you see
what people enjoyed. It’s fascinating. It’s a beautiful
laboratory, one huge experiment.
You also have a Spreecast where you interview
female filmmakers?
Yes, live stream interviews where the audience can
log in and chat, ask questions. I did that on a monthly
basis and I now turned that into a docu series, which
you can currently see on-line. It’s me, going to the
filmmakers’ homes, having a very casual chat with
042 et alors?

them in the space where they create. I thought that
was a more intimate way to actually get to know the
filmmaker. It was very important for me to showcase
and celebrate female filmmakers, to counteract the
voices that say that there are no female filmmakers
or that there’s only a small percentage because
females don’t like filmmaking. Or are not interested.
They keep on making excuses on why the numbers
are so low. This series is meant to inspire others,
showing aspirant filmmakers that if she can do it,
you can do it.
A happy feminist.
Feminist? Me? Nooo! Haha. I’m a very proud feminist
card holder and I think any woman or man who is for
the progress and equality of women in the world, is
a feminist. Whether they like it or not!
Talking about feminism, a lot of your work handles
the subjects of arrange marriage, homosexuality,
Muslim-American subcultures. You’re quite a
committed woman.
That is one way to say it, certainly. I try to tackle all
those subjects in my films. Sometimes that’s a little
ambitious, but I try to do it in a very nuanced way
instead of being exploitative. I really did want to
cover as much as I could when it comes to a female
experience in the Muslim-American subculture.
That does include the idea of arranged marriage
– because that definitely still happens – and the
idea of being closeted in that community. You’d
be surprised to hear how many people actually
connect with that story line. And then the other
story line has to do with abuse, which lots of women
go through. I wouldn’t say that that’s unique to the
Muslim subculture but I’m certain that happens
internationally. It was important for me to touch
upon all those subjects.
These are also very personal subjects?
et alors? 043

‘It was very important
for me to showcase
and celebrate female
filmmakers, to
counteract the voices
that say that there are
no female filmmakers
or that there’s only
a small percentage
because females don’t
like filmmaking. Or
are not interested.
They keep on making
excuses on why the
numbers are so low.’
I grew up Muslim, so it’s indeed very personal. My
family is Palestinian and I grew up in Abu Dhabi.
We moved to the US but I definitely have that
perspective as someone who is from the Muslim-
American subculture. It’s just something that I feel
wasn’t being presented in cinema, in film, in media.
I basically made a film that I myself would have
loved to see when I was younger. I felt like there was
nothing out there that I could connect with. That
understood my experience, that made me feel like
I counted.
How did you grow up?
To be honest, it was very lonely. Even when I was
always surrounded by family, which is very common
in the Middle Eastern culture. Everything is always
everyone’s business and privacy is not a privilege
you get. Certainly not when you are living in your
044 et alors?

parent’s house, parents who loved me, by the way.
A Big Fat Greek Wedding kind of family, caring and
loving. But when you’re growing up as a woman,
trying to find your place, your ideas, and you’re
trying to see where you fit in all of this, it can end up
being isolated and lonely.
So what did you do at that age? Being without any
role models?
I lost myself in movies. That was my escape. I have
a computer science background and the best part
about being a geek was that I could build my own
computer, put my own dvd drive in it so I could rent
movies and watch them in my room. Where no one
would know. Specifically the lesbian side of me loved
Angelina Jolie movies like ‘Gia’ and ‘Girl Interrupted’.
Also the movie ‘Fire’ (one of the first mainstream
films in India to explicitly show homosexual
relations. Ref.) was a big deal to me. So basically I
got lost in movies. Which made me feel like I wasn’t
alone. Because of that I thought film was the perfect
way to tell such stories so other people wouldn’t feel
alone.
But at one point you did come out of the closet.
Yes, and it was a nightmare. I got kicked out of the
house after my parents first completely ignored
my existence and then send me to a psychologist.
When that didn’t work, they wanted me to undergo
an eradication of my supposed hormone imbalance.
I’m telling you this in a nutshell, yet the humiliation
was unbearable.
Nevertheless you are calling your mother the
bravest woman you know.
At one point she got diagnosed with heart failure
and had only a few years to live. Since then she
really turned around and decided that she wanted
to open her heart and mind. Can you imagine that
you come from a culture that keeps indoctrinating
you, saying ‘gay is evil!’ Where they keep telling you
that having a gay child is even worse than having
a dead child. When you have that kind of legacy in
your mind and culture since you where a baby, you
have to overcome a lot to open up. I always say my
mother is the bravest woman because I know she
had to almost stretch both her heart ànd mind. It
really took a lot from her to do that. But I flew her
out to San Francisco where I was living at the time
and she even met my partner. We had a great time.
She passed away shortly after that. It ended in the
most beautiful note and she is my hero. It was very
important that we went through that.
What did that kind of indoctrination do to you?
I would say that the number one thing I suffered
from was me, hating myself. Not even other people
hating me. I was torturing myself essentially. I’d go
to school and pretend everything was fine and then
I’d go home and would literally be hitting myself.
Slapping myself in my room. I just wanted it to go
away. I hated myself so much. I tried by reading the
Koran, try to slap the gay away. But of course it didn’t
work. In the end you just have to get into it. Saying;
‘this is who I am. What can I do? I can’t do anything
about it except be myself and be honest, that’s all’.
Are your still religious?
I used to be very religious. It was a part of me and I
would pray every day. But now? No. I’m not religious
at all, I’m agnostic. I believe all religions have beauty
in them whether or not god exists the way we want
him or her to exist. The only thing I know is that we
don’t know anything. I think anyone who claims that
they know something is bullshitting, because they
don’t. Yet I do love the sentiments that religions
have about how we should treat each other, how
we should go through life. And I acknowledge that
religion is sometimes necessary for some people to
keep going. Without religion some people are lost,
have no clue about why they are here or what we
are doing. But the truth is that no one has a clue.
We try to explain it in a way that makes us feel
better and that makes us feel sane. Having sanity
and the knowledge that it’s all going somewhere.
Especially regarding an afterlife. No one knows!!
How is someone ever going to know? All those basic
questions asking; ‘does this all matter’, ‘what was it
all for’, ‘why was I here’,.. It began and it ended. So
the idea or notion of an afterlife is essentially saying
‘we matter’. Our lives matter. Well, if so; hurray!
Great! But if not, whatever. Religion was essentially
a worldwide way of law and civility. Don’t steal, don’t
kill, don’t do this and don’t do that, be humble, share
your money. But do you really need a book to tell you
all this? And if the only reason you’re behaving like
that is for you to be able to selfishly go to paradise,
then we’re kind of screwed don’t you think?
www.rollaselbak.com
et alors? 047

oxanne
bauwens
text fleur pierets photos roxanne bauwens
et alors? 049

Her website states: ‘So far I have done research
on various topics: identity, beauty ideals, (ab)
normality, medical abnormalities, skin, perception,
genderbending and uniqueness in contrast
to uniformity.’ Needless to say we were very
intrigued on hearing more about visual artist
Roxanne Bauwens. A conversation about beauty,
open-mindedness and the human soul.
Your work evolves around your personal vision
on beauty. Why?
I’ve always been very interested in the concept of
beauty, or better, what people believe is beautiful.
Like most young girls I used to slide through
fashion magazines, and like probably all of them
I always ended up with a feeling that I didn’t live
up to those standards. I guess my former huge
unibrow must have had something to do with
that. Now that I’m older people consider me a
beautiful woman, yet most of the time it doesn’t
go any further or beyond that observation. I
guess that’s why I find it so important to attach
great significance to what’s real and what’s not.
To show a different point of view.
So it’s a personal evolution?
For me art is all about evoking and projecting.
Yet you need experience in order to evoke or
project something relevant. I guess part of that
has to do with my upbringing, since I come from
a lesbian home, which was slightly off cue when
I was younger. Everything about my family was
just a little bit different from my friends’ families.
In addition that made me also a bit ‘different’, so
to speak. Never belonged, which of course I find
now more enjoyable than back then.
Can you define beauty?
When you search for the definition of beauty,
you get the following: ‘The quality present in a
thing or person that gives intense pleasure or
deep satisfaction to the mind, whether arising
from sensory manifestations (as shape, color,
sound, etc.), a meaningful design or pattern, or
something else (as a personality in which high
spiritual qualities are manifest).’ For me, beauty
is the inside that manifests itself on the outside.
When I’m working with models, I choose them
because of their divergent features, the non-
050 et alors?

‘Androgyny is
very difficult to
capture because
the moment you
wonder whether a
person is a boy or
a girl, that’s the
moment you see
true beauty.’
typical beauties. I always had a soft spot for
imperfections, which I found more intriguing.
Those little off-guard proportions that make a
person unique.
Aren’t those people insecure in front of the
camera, just because of that?
Yes, and it’s very difficult to convince them of
loosing their masks. My projects deflect from
societies beauty standards so the first thing I
need to do is to earn their trust. I’m familiar with
most of the models I work with but still, they
have to be confident that I’m not going to go into
some weird zone once I handle my photoshop
tools. Once I had a model that left. Who told me
he couldn’t do it because it was too intense.
You ask a lot.
I do. I ask for people to open up. To go, sometimes
literally, naked. To show me their soul. Which
is often very uncomfortable and difficult for
an adult person. I’m aware of the fact that the
word soul is often used in vain and is somewhat
pompous to be used by an artist, but yet there’s
a lot of truth to be found their. The raw, deep
emotion, which is so interesting to capture with
your camera.
How do you get people to go that far?
When in the studio, it’s quite an intense and
psychological process because I actually ask
my models to think of a traumatic or heavily
disturbing moment that happened in their lives.
To actually relive that experience. That’s the
moment when a person becomes radiant. When
you see it all.
On your website you talk about Marina
Abramovich, who states in her documentary
‘The Artist is present’, that art should be
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made with emotions and that the artist must
be one with the moment in which the work is
created. Are you joining your models into the
emotions?
Certainly! I make playlist of certain atmospheres
and evolving certain subject matters. At that
moment I also have to surrender myself to them,
so music helps to build up the required mood of
the moment. In order to ask people to open up to
me, I have to do the same thing. It doesn’t ad any
value to the work when I behave like an outsider.
When I’m only playing the voyeurs role.
Do you open up yourself quite often?
Not very often. I used to do it a lot, which didn’t
always have the nicest outcome. So you can say
I’m careful, which I deplore and try to change
on an every day basis. Yet I find it very heard to
keep a certain naivety, a belief in the goodness of
people. You are always looked at. Both approved
or criticized.
So your work might be a contra reaction on
how people react on you, as a person?
Maybe it is. Maybe I like to provoke. Try to make
people a bit more open-minded. And that doesn’t
always has to be about the big gestures. You can
also make change by dropping little visual thrills.
Like my pictures.
Do you have the feeling people are looking at
your work the way you want them to?
Some of them do. And don’t get me wrong, I’m
not preaching for people to think the same way
as I do. But it always feels like a victory when
they ‘get’ it or are willing to open up for my
work. I’m sincerely able to find people extremely
beautiful, even when others consider them
ugly. Just because of that certain fragility, the
vulnerability, so to speak. Everything is clean and
photoshopped nowadays. We’re flooded by fake
smiles, clothes that speak of the wearer’s money
value. I want my spectators to actually see the
person behind the face, to be able to feel and see
exactly the same as the one on the picture.
To see beauty beyond the obvious.
And to define beauty for themselves. Not
thoughtlessly taking over what’s been told to
think. Of course you have those things called
the golden ratio or symmetry, which makes
people like Kate Moss or Angelina Jolie universal
beauties. But I like asymmetrical faces more.
That makes a person interesting. Stratification
between the inner person and the way he or she
exposes himself on the outside. You don’t always
get what you see. And happy not to.
How do you start a new series?
That depends. Often I get my inspiration from
experiencing life. That, and a great deal of
research; documentaries on the subject of
beauty, the evolution of beauty in art history.
I’m the research kind of girl. Most of the
time it’s a symbioses of those two. Efficient
knowledge combined with a certain mood or
emotion once experienced. Than I start looking
for all the ingredients to merit that particular
atmosphere. My previous work also guides me
into new projects since I keep on learning about
new techniques, or the way the light captures a
piece of skin in a satisfying manner. That kind of
approach leads to the fact that all my work is a
result of the foregoing ones.
Why photography, since those themes are
suitable for every form of art.
We experience a picture as a reproduction of
reality and I want to show something that’s
a bit bizarre, without being an alteration. So
photography is the perfect registration tool.
Can you tell me something about the gender
pictures that accompany this article?
Androgyny is very difficult to capture because
the moment you wonder whether a person is
a boy or a girl, that’s the moment you see true
beauty. I wanted to approach as close as possible
the story behind the image, go beyond the cliché
of average photography. My work is pure, has no
fringes, so on one side you have the toughness,
the hardness which you definitely need in
nowadays society and on the other hand you
have that feminine softness. And for me, that’s
what a person is all about. About all having a male
and female identity. I also don’t believe in being
100% heterosexual, I think we’re all somewhere
in-between.
www.roxannebauwens.be
et alors? 057

criaturas
text fleur pierets concept criaturas
et alors? 059

Criaturas is the name Saskia De Tollenaere and
Olivier Desimpel gave to the world they created
for everyone who dares to dream. An experience
concept where their passion for theater, art,
fashion, beauty, spirituality and emotion merges
in the form of unique celebrations and parties.
Each time they create a new universe, their artists
bring the concept to life. Especially for Et Alors?
Magazine they created one of Criaturas’ amazing
photoshoot. Needless to say we are very proud to
feature these gorgeous images, so we asked them
about this unique world of theirs.
Where did you get the name?
When we studied fashion at the academy, we
got a lot of inspiration from movies by Pedro
Almodovar, Tim Burton and David Lynch. Our
graduation collections therefor had a high
theatrical atmosphere.
Saskia The red thread in my graduation collection
was the female seduction in all its facets. It was
named ‘Criaturas de la ultima seduçion divina’.
When we started our company about a year
later, it was immediately clear to us that the
name Criaturas = beings / creatures perfectly
encompassed what we created.
When did you start?
Olivier My graduation collection was a Victorian
funeral procession marching through the old city
center of Ghent. It was a hot day in June 1999, the
terraces were packed so we had a large audience.
Someone asked us why we didn’t bring such act
in the events sector. In those days there was very
little entertainment, except for the clown, the
magician and the music band so that’s how we
found our stage. Later on it expanded to total
concepts.
What was your first project?
The theme of our first big event was From Hell
to Heaven. It was an interactive concept where
guests first had to endure the journey through
purgatory and hell, to end up in heaven via the
gardens of Eden. 50 artists performed as witches,
devils, satyrs, angels, nymphs, all the creatures
symbolizing good and/or evil. It was inspired by
Dante’s Divine Comedy, dripped in a David Lynch
atmosphere.
What’s your best project until now?
Each concept is like a child, therefor impossible to
choose between them. The most innovative are
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our Tableaux Vivants, because the guests not only
step into a painting, but also become part of it.
What’s the most amazing thing you ever did?
Putting a smile on someone’s face or seeing tears
of wonder. The fusion of the illusionary world and
reality. Technically, it is perhaps the hell-heaven
concept in the beginning of our career that was the
most daring. With the resources we had in those
days, it was litteraly a ‘hell of a job’, yet it gave us
the confidence that we could handle everything
from then on. Take for example the Cotton
Palazzo-event where we hung 3kms of white
curtains in an abandoned, open cotton mill during
a storm. The result was.. heavenly! Currently we
are organizing a party where we actually build
a location with 75 large sea containers This is
undoubtedly the most amazing project until now.
What’s the most amazing thing you ever want
to do?
To let our world make a journey as an avant garde
healing theatre. A mix of beauty, spectacle,
interactive acts, unity and spirituality.
Where lies your main interest?
To live life in the full. With love and all its beauty.
Tell me about the photoshoot?
The time had come to take a new direction in terms
of acts and costumes. We needed a new challenge
and wanted to put more emotion and story in our
creations. The spiritual message we wanted to
convey was that every individual is beautiful with
his own style and image, and can perfectly blend
in a society where originality is appreciated. In
nature, the bird with the most colorful plumage
is the most successful match. Among people; far
too often gray and colorlessness is considered
normal. For the photoshoot we have created very
different characters and looks, and made them
party together. By giving them names like The
Storyteller and The White Knight, we give a hint
of the story they tell, yet we allow the viewer to
have his own dreams and fill in the blancs. The
photoshoot is also the start of our traveling avant
garde theater so for us it’s a preview.
Do you actually make everything yourself?
When it comes to costumes and accessories, yes,
we make everything ourselves so it is absolutely
unique. We use couture, ethnic and antique fabrics,
vintage and antique ornaments and applications.
Therefor our costumes radiate luxury and history.
I’m always looking for material with a high dose
of craftsmanship. Both at flea markets and the
worldwide web. I also like to learn new skills such
as origami and kanzashi, which I used in our geisha
costumes. Also the art of making hats, for which
I get professional help of our makeup designer,
is an enrichment. We also design the graphics,
invitations, special props and floral decorations
for our concept events.
Where do you get your inspiration?
History, movies, fashion, nature, dreams, life and
we inspire each other.
You also have your own jewel collection?
Yes, and not only jewelry and accessories but
also home decoration, interior design and art.
My jewelry collection; DTS for lovely creatures,
originated at the request of a couture shop that
wanted to offer bespoke jewelry to customers. So
each time I make a suitable jewel for a particular
cocktail or evening dress, it developes into an
extensive collection in different styles. Along with
Olivier, I also design for our O + S studio, which are
mainly interior designs such as lighting, furniture
and accessories. We always make unique pieces,
we do not like mass production. Our favorite
challenge is to create something customized
for the clients. Watching someone’s character,
personality, style, experiences, dreams, .. and
design something that he or she represents. This
way of working has led us already to design very
spiritual things for customers.
Don’t you ever think about starting your own
fashion collection?
No, during our fashion studies, we dreamed of
designing haute couture collections because of the
theatrical aspect. Back then, Jean Paul Gaultier,
John Galliano and Alexander McQueen were our
heroes. Yet we don’t want to get stuck in the
commercial circuit where we have to take trends,
rules and sales figures into account. Frankly, we
just want the freedom to create whatever we
want. My favorite aspect of the job is that every
day is different. I feel blessed that one day I can
062 et alors?

‘When it comes
to costumes and
accessories, yes,
we make everything
ourselves so it is
absolutely unique.
We use couture,
ethnic and antique
fabrics, vintage and
antique ornaments and
applications. Therefor
our costumes radiate
luxury and history.’
come up with a concept and put it into shape,
and the next day I can make a costume or work
on my jewelry collection. I can live my inspiration
and imagination without restrain. I rarely feel that
I ought to do something and therefor can start
each day with full passion and love for what I do.
Tell me about your future dreams?
When it comes to realization, Criaturas is our
child and we would like to see it grow and inspire
others. Also the opportunity to work with famous
artists or filmmakers, so we can reach more people
internationally, would be a goal. And later on… a
house on a hill, with a lot of animals, surrounded
by nature. That would sound good.
www.criaturas.eu
total concept criaturas
photography fotocode
costumes & styling saskia de tollenaere
mua wim godderis
hairstyling wakko
et alors? 065

kanithea
powell
text fleur pierets photos beverli alford
et alors? 067

‘Well, these aren’t your typical flannel, mullet,
boot wearing butches. This new art book
pushes the Butch-definition beyond its seams.
Packed with fashion forward pictures that are
vivid, dramatic and provocative. These genderbending
bois will make your heart skip a beat.
It is a feast for the eyes and the coffee table.
You will fall in love and never again judge a
butch by her cover.’ Kanithea Powell, Author.
Tell me about that gorgeous book of yours!
I wanted to do something that would get people
talking about people like me. Sometimes I wear
lipstick and make-up and I’m not as masculine as
some women would like me to be. But I am who I
am and I’m tired of people saying that I’m not butch
enough, I’m not this or that enough. So I decided to
create something that shows people that it’s ok to
be exactly the way you are. Whatever that is. To get
out of that box because I’m so tired of boxes.
You have a problem with the typical butch
identity.
What’s typical? I wouldn’t say I have a problem
with it. I would say that people love to put others in
boxes. Whether it’s about the color of your skin or
your sexual preferences. And if you don’t fit inside
that little box, they get very uncomfortable and
they don’t know what to do. This book forces you
to remove the blinders and see how things have
changed.
Isn’t the word ‘Butch’ also a box?
When you look at the book, it pushes what that
definition means. This book is a popped collar, high
fashion buffet of beautiful women who redefine the
term. It gets you to rethink the word as a whole.
How did people react?
The reactions have been great. We are in over 16
countries right now. One person who bought the
book actually slept with it for four days. It’s been very
well received and we’ve been up for a few awards so
that’s pretty awesome. People have embraced the
work and I’m grateful for that.
And where did you find your models?
A lot of them I worked with in the past. I do a lot
068 et alors?

et alors? 071

‘definition of
butch: adj;
Exhibiting
stereotypically
or exaggeratedly
masculine traits or
appearance….’
of filming for professional photographers and for
fashion shows. I was at my friend’s apartment one
saturday and we got on the phone and called the
models we knew and got them down to DC to film.
Let me tell you: it has been great! It’s good to know
beautiful people.
You started Qwest Films? It’s television, movies,
books,.. You don’t want to stick to one thing.
I’m an artist and I don’t like being confined. Whatever
I feel I want to create, I create. Whether it’s a show,
a film, a book or a theatrical play. Whatever I feel
inspired to do, I just do it. I created the company to
be able to do all these sorts of things. It’s important
to be open. When you think about a major player like
a Sony or a Paramount, or what have you. They’re in
every single bit of entertainment business. They’re
in distribution, publishing, TV, they’re in everything.
So… I like to think of myself as a big company.
And why do you want to do these things? Do you
have a mission statement to change the world?
Make things different?
I would like to show the world that we are more alike
then we are different. We’re all the same. We’re all
just humans being. Whether you are gay, straight,
bi, whatever that is, we all love, we all hurt, we all
get angry and feel pain. So, I want people to see our
humanity versus just passing judgment.
How do you succeed in showing that without the
‘boxing’ that we talked about?
If you look at any of my films or the current work that
I’m doing right now, it’s all about life experiences and
how we handle/deal with them. Stripping away the
stereotypes. Tearing down the walls of homophobia
and all that crazy stuff that’s going on out there. I
just want to do my part.
Do you have the feeling you can make some
change?
Of course! I have a lot of straight people buying my
books and films. That tells me that there is a desire
to learn and understand who we are. And with those
small moves we can open eyes and get people to
become more accepting of people who are not like
them.
Your new film is completely different? Tell me all
about it.
It’s about a woman who sees too much, and has to
play a deadly game of survival against a backdrop
of greed and revenge. There is a beautiful lesbian
couple in the film. I love it! Everybody in the film
is acting out of desperation. It’s amazing to see
how far a person will go and the things they will do
when they’re desperate. Those moments speak to
your character. It’s an item that’s quite right now
in America. How they deal with immigrants and all
that jazz. I thought it would be kind of interesting to
shed a little light on it.
Is it also an experienced story?
I know quite a few people who deal with the topic
and hearing their stories inspired me to write the
screenplay. Hopefully we can pull off an authentic
film that people can relate to.
You don’t stay into the LGBT interest field?
No, I do what inspires me, whatever that is. I’m
eclectic and I enjoy being open to ideas. As long as it
tells an authentic story I’m in!
What do you want to accomplish, as a person?
I would love to own a television network station
where I can put out 24 hours of entertainment,
and I can pick and choose what ever I like. I think
that would be my ultimate goal. I’m working on a
television show right now and hopefully that will give
me another leg into that dream. Fingers crossed!
www.qwestfilms.com
et alors? 073

uce
weber
photos bruce weber
et alors? 075

Over the past thirteen years, the photographer and filmmaker
Bruce Weber has published the book series All-American, an
independent portfolio of work by artists, photographers, essayists,
poets, and personalities whose lives and accomplishments warrant
celebration.
The latest edition of Bruce Weber’s annual arts journal explores the
emotional framework behind a wide spectrum of human endeavor.
With its characteristically eclectic cast of talented subjects, All-
American XIV: Affairs of the Heart considers the deeply personal
motivations at the heart of a creative and committed life.
This fourteenth edition of Weber’s journal presents two original
commissions. In the first, photographer and filmmaker Poppy de
Villeneuve returns to the small town of Harbor Springs, Michigan
to document daily life and reflect on the town’s evolution from her
early experiences there as a child. In the second, Lisa Eisner and
John Scott visit The Thacher School in Ojai, California to investigate
the institution’s unique equestrian program. Bruce Weber offers
three original photo essays-a portfolio of Tibetan Mastiffs, the
rare and mysterious dog breed; a spread dedicated to the work of
ex-pat artist Kris Ruhs, accompanied by a conversation with the
artist Michele Oka Doner; and a profoundly moving testimonial
from retired NYPD detective William Fischer.
The inspiration that Bruce Weber takes from Italian cinema is
celebrated through two stories rooted in the neoclassical era:
A portfolio of incredible photographs by the little-known Italian
photographer Paolo di Paolo, and a collection of images taken on
the set of Antonioni’s counterculture classic Zabreskie Point by
Bruce Davidson-presented here with an interview Bruce Weber
conducted with the film’s star, Daria Halprin. The book also features
tributes to two very different American literary talents who passed
away this year-Peter Matthiessen and Rene Ricard.
all-american XIV
affairs of the heart
bruce weber
limited edition
published by teneues in
0ctober 2014
size 24 x 30,5 cm / 16 x 12 in.
c. 200 pp., softcover with
slipcase
c. 200 color and duotone
photographs
text in english
€ 98 $ 125 £ 80
isbn 9783832798598
et alors? 077

gay & night
text fleur pierets photos johan van walsem
et alors? 079

Gay&Night Magazine started off in 1997 as a onetime
special during Amsterdam Gay Pride. It soon
however became so popular that it evolved into a
monthly glossy. Distributed for free at almost all
gay meeting spots in Belgium and the Netherlands,
it serves as a light-hearted guide to the gay
community. Editor-in-Chief Martijn Tulp and vice
editor-in-chief Martijn Kamphorst took place on our
Skype sofa and we promptly nominated them as
funniest Dutchmen we know. Do we have to remind
you that all good things come in twos?
You just celebrated your 200th issue. That’s quite
an accomplishment nowadays.
MK Isn’t it?! Martijn [Tulp – ed.] joined the club when
they where about to hit issue 100. My contribution
came a bit later and asked for some shenanigans;
when I applied for the position they told me they
already had someone named Martijn and it would
be too confusing to hire another one. The next
day I wrote a letter signed Henk and got invited
immediately.
MT Happy ever since.
What was it like, to start at issue 100?
MT It was a good thing because the magazine still
had a lot of room for improvement. Still has, now I
come to think about it, yet that’s called evolution.
Needless to say we still have to keep our audience
attentive and inspired. The magazine is a service to
the gay community, so if we at some point start to
notice that people are losing interest, we’ll have to
close the shop. It’s great work but hard work, and
still some people ask me what’s my job besides
being involved in the magazine.
You feature articles from bisexuality and women
with beards, to interviews with RuPaul’s drag
queens and bears. Where do you keep your
balance?
MK We try to maintain a balance by featuring topics
that address a variety of readers. Having said that,
it’s impossible to please everyone in one issue.
Sometimes our focus will be on gender or bears, and
in another issue you will find more content that’s
interesting for lesbian readers or clubbers.
MT Not all issues are for everyone, but by offering
a wide-ranging series of articles, we’re trying to
make sure everyone feels tempted to pick it up at
some point. We do focus on the entire LGBT scene,
but most of our readers are gay males. Sometimes
it’s quite hard to serve a shattered target group, but
080 et alors?

then again it teaches you how to make choices. An
attitude that most of the time leads to quality.
Are we talking about an intuitive magazine?
MT For about 90%, yet we’re trying to cover all
groups to the best of our abilities.
MK And that’s obviously not always in the same
way. The great thing is that as a free magazine, we
feel we have the opportunity to also cover niche
subjects. Of course there will always be readers who
aren’t happy with certain coverage, but then again,
we luckily don’t rely on paying subscribers.
MT The magazine is distributed via the gay hotspots
but is also available on mainstream locations, so we
can afford to be a bit teasing, a bit more experimental
towards a wider audience.
As a person, in what way are you both the ‘actual’
magazine?
MT Well, the fact that there isn’t much about sports
and fitness probably says a great deal about the
editors. On the other hand, however, there is plenty
about music, which is my point of interest... and
about food! I always want to publish something
about how to bake a cake! You always color the
things you write or feature and we do try to keep a
certain amount of distance between our personal
self and the magazine. That said, you can’t avoid
being dragged into it with your own preferences,
and many things we write about are things that
catch our attention. I myself am single so I’m
active on dating sites, especially on apps for bears.
When I read about pandas, polar bears, etc., I was
triggered to do some research on those different
denominations within the gay scene, and it turned
into an article.
MK I for example wrote a feature on how Asian boys
are treated within the gay scene. I was out clubbing
with a bunch of friends and overheard some rather
hurtful remarks about those boys. That’s when the
et alors? 081

eporter in me awakens and starts asking questions.
In the beginning it was merely out of personal
interest, but after a while I realized that this topic
might be more than suitable for an article in our
magazine.
MT A quite hefty one if you ask me, on how Thai and
Chinese boys are looking for each other’s company,
because they can’t find any connection outside their
circle.
MK And let me tell you, I didn’t have to beg for
stories. A simple ‘how are you?’, and the words came
running out.
Do you consider yourselves in an educational
position?
MT We’re a magazine that’s not scared to face
problems. So when we hear about a topic like those
Thai kids, we feel obliged to write about it. To us, it’s
important to keep on looking at the big picture to
remain a very accessible magazine.
MK In a positive way!
MT Indeed, and that is something we actively work
on. Even when a certain subject might be considered
being too niche, there are still a large amount
of people who would love the fact that you’re
writing about that certain phenomenon, without
considering it a sensational subject. We try to treat
every topic as ‘mainstream’. Same with politics. We
often write about changes in the LGBT legislation
and focus on making the articles very accessible for
those without any political background knowledge.
MK For us it’s very important to also cover the more
or less ‘heavy’ subjects with a more social approach,
for example by interviewing a couple of members
from a movement. I think that’s our responsibility as
a magazine, to feature the more committed content
next to an article on, for example, gay tourism in Tel
Aviv. By doing that, we aim for readers who normally
won’t immerse into the subject matter. Not by
simplifying, but by making it more accessible.
Can you give an example?
MT The first thing we did when the shit hit the fan
in Russia, was not making a list of what politically
went wrong over there, but we looked for someone
who lived there. Someone who experienced the
terror by seeing his friends bashed for no particular
reason. We wanted to hear the voices on the street.
Sometimes – and I’m talking about the Netherlands
and Flanders – we are quite easy-going about
‘Not all issues are
for everyone, but
by offering a wideranging
series of
articles, we’re
trying to make sure
everyone feels
tempted to pick it up
at some point.’
coming out of the closet or having the same human
rights.
MK By telling the story of an actual person, you
make the subject matter more real and in your face.
Because these are the sort of things that can also
happen to you.
How important is it to keep on printing a magazine
like Gay&Night?
MT I’d like to keep on printing as long as possible. The
way people react to printed media has gone through
a lot of changes. Even newspapers experience a
difficult time, because you can read everything right
away on the Internet. Nevertheless it’s still very
enjoyable to sit on the couch with a printed version
of whatever you want to read.
MK And besides the fact that you can hold it and it
‘smells good’, you don’t have to stick to a limit of 500
words in order to not lose one’s attention.
MT Our magazine can be found in bars, clubs,
saunas, restaurants and lunchrooms, so that’s a
very interesting place to gain visibility. If we, as
publishers, keep on succeeding in making the
magazine interesting for our audience, I think we
will be able to keep on printing!
I hear a lot of evolution since issue 100.
082 et alors?

MK When you see our series of covers, you’ll
notice that we started getting more and more
experimental. It starts with a parade of men…
MT Cute men, if I may add.
MK ...and all of a sudden we have a picture of an
older lesbian woman [he’s referring to Glee-actress
Jane Lynch – ed.]. In 2013 we expanded with a
Flemish edition, so now we have two covers to think
about. Or better yet; to play with.
MT And don’t forget that not only the tone, but also
the lay-out of the magazine changed. In May 2011
we started working with our new art-director Jeroen
de Rooij – we couldn’t find a third ‘Martijn’ suitable
for the position. One of the compliments we hear
most often is that the magazine looks too good to
be free. Needless to say that makes us very proud,
but credit where credit is due; design-wise, all praise
goes to Jeroen.
And yet the magazine is still for free.
MK Always has, always will be. Well, I definitely
hope so.
MT We know a lot of people who carry our
magazine in their hearts. We work very closely with
our advertisers and also the festivals and events
featured in Gay&Night. They help us keep it vivid
and alive. Not only gay magazines, but a lot of
magazines in general recently ceased their printed
editions. We are one of the few gay magazines left in
the Netherlands and we try to handle that position
with care. It’s what’s gained us a lot of trust from our
audience throughout the years.
MK This for example entails treating our interviewees
with the utmost respect and always letting them
check our version of their words before we go to
press.
MT We also offer cheap subscriptions for people
who don’t visit gay places that often.
www.gay-night.nl
et alors? 083

weaven’s
world
text fleur pierets photos aaron labaki
et alors? 085

With hair designs featured in over 100 magazines
and newspapers worldwide, it’s no wonder the
definition of celebrity hair designing is Steven
Noss. ‘Weaven Steven’ coined and earned his name
by making his mark as one of the foremost fantasy
hair designers in the circuit. Winning clients
and drawing attention from around the globe,
the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native electrifies
audiences with his zany antics, charisma, and
passion for out-of-this-world hair.
Noss has devoted over 25 years to the hair industry
and launched his career through the Hair Wars shows.
Having travelled from New York City and Miami to Las
Vegas, Noss gained notoriety for producing inventive
and history making hair pieces which showcase his
range of design and color palette. In addition to
his travels, Noss’s appearances included styling for
episodes of The Ricki Lake Show, Fashion Television,
German Television show Taft, the Style Network’s Split
Ends, Soul Train, America’s Next Top Model and the
daytime Tyra Show. His extensive resume includes hair
piece creations for celebrity clientele, such as Toccara
Jones, Kut Klose, Fans of Jimmy Century, power couple
Memphitz and Toya Wright, and Lady Ga Ga.
Whether a fantasy hair show, television, or print
media, Steven’s repertoire transcended his humble
beginnings when he embarked on a project featuring
his most brilliant hair designs to date, a coffee table
book titled ‘Weaven’s World. A Journey with Fantasy
Hair’. Weaven’s World anthologizes the innovative and
dramatic of the acclaimed weavologist. Set in locations
across the United States, Noss bends reality to feature
iconic and enigmatic fantasy hair fashions in an array
of studio, dystopian, tropical, industrial and extraterrestrial
back drops. The compilation of these works
showcases the journey of the artist as he broadens
his own creative horizons while solidifying his already
celebrated mastery in the fantasy hair field. ‘Weaven’s
World’ is a 158 page hardback photography book
that is divided into eight segments that featured the
written biography of Steven Noss and his fantasy hair
designs. Ranging from fantasy hair weaves and high
fashion hair-clothing to hand crafted accessories and
extravagant coiffures. ‘Weaven’s World’ bridges the gap
between fantasy hair and high fashion while exposing
a wider range of audiences to the riveting eccentric
multicultural world of hair fashion.
www.weavensteven.com
086 et alors?

vivian
maier
text fleur pierets photos vivian maier
et alors? 089

Vivian Maier (New York, 1926 - 2009) worked as
a professional nanny throughout her life. In her
free time, she documented life in large American
cities such as New York and Chicago, although
no one in her immediate circle ever saw the
results. She left behind an imposing body of work,
consisting of 150,000 negatives. Its quality can
be compared to that of famed contemporaries like
Joel Sternfeld, Joel Meyerowitz, Elliot Erwitt and
Garry Winogrand. Besides photos, she also made
countless motion pictures and audio recordings.
Vivian Maier, born in the US to a French mother
and Austrian father, had a solitary nature. She lost
both of her parents early on, so she was forced to
become independent at a young age. In 1951 she
became a nanny, work she continued to do for the
rest of her life. Those who were acquainted with
her characterized Maier as extremely intelligent,
eccentric, curious and a free spirit. She documented
all that caught her attention, in photos as well as
sound and motion pictures. On the street she was
fairly inconspicuous: she wore a hat, a long dress, a
woolen coat and men’s shoes, and she never left the
house without a camera around her neck.
She remained single all her life and had no children
of her own, but she cared for the children she was
looking after like they where her own. The Gensburg’s,
a well-to-do Chicago family, who she moved in
with in 1956, gave Maier her own bathroom, which
became her first darkroom. Her photographic work,
at first predominately black-and-white, focused on
societal subjects: street life, the disadvantaged and
emigrants. After the children grew up, in the 1970s,
Maier was forced to seek work with other families.
She was then no longer able to develop her own film
and her exposed film rolls began to pile up. During
that time Maier experimented with color film, which
caused a new approach in her photography and led
to more abstraction.
In the 1980s she was again confronted with
developments that made her photography more
difficult. Financial problems and the lack of a fixed
address caused her film rolls to pile up even more.
Sometime in the late 1990s, Maier put down her
camera for good and her possessions were placed in
storage while she tried to keep her head above water.
The Gensburg children arranged a small studio for
her, saving her from becoming homeless. The photo
archive fell into oblivion, however, until it was finally
090 et alors?

auctioned off for non-payment in 2007. The archive
was sold in multiple lots to various parties and John
Maloof came to possess a great deal of the work.
Only after he had the work further investigated did
its remarkable quality become apparent. The Vivian
Maier, Street Photographer exhibition is based on
the material that John Maloof came to own.
In 2008 Maier suffered a nasty fall on the ice in
Chicago and died in April 2009. She left behind an
immense photographic archive.
Vivian Maier, Street Photographer is a retrospective
exhibition featuring the work of a female street
photographer whose impressive oeuvre was
only discovered at the end of her life- and then
immediately caused a worldwide sensation. The
exhibition at Foam contains photographic work
from the 1950s to 1980s in black-and-white and
color, as well as films.
7 November 2014 - 28 January 2015
foam
Keizersgracht 609
1017 DS Amsterdam
00 31 (0)20 5516500
www.foam.org
page 088
new york, 10 september 1955
© vivian maier
maloof collection
courtesy howard greenberg gallery new york
page 091
new york, ny, n.d.
© vivian maier
maloof collection
courtesy howard greenberg gallery new york
page 092
new york, ny 1953
© vivian maier
maloof collection
courtesy howard greenberg gallery new york
et alors? 093

www
www.berlinvma.com
www.boijmans.nl
www.bookthefilm.com
www.bruceweber.com
www.criaturas.eu
www.foam.org
www.fotocode.be
www.gay-night.nl
www.harukimurakami.com
www.hrp.org.uk
www.ianmcewan.com
www.johanfotografie.nl
www.johanvanwalsem.nl
www.knopfdoubleday.com
www.margaretatwood.com
www.moma.org
www.nicotaeymans.com
www.penguinrandomhouse.ca
www.piek.cc
www.qwestfilms.com
www.randomhouse.com
www.rollaselbak.com
www.roxannebauwens.be
www.wakko.be
www.weavenstevem.com
www.wikipedia.org/wiki/michel_faber
www.wonderkidfilm.co.uk
094 et alors?

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submissions@berlinmva.com
regular deadline MARCH 1
late deadline APRIL 1
No matter the language, genre or popularity,
BMVA rewards on quality, originality & diversity.
BerlinMVA
@BerlinMVA