A journey through drag mothering by Panagiotis Pagiotakopoulos

In this lecture performance, Taka Taka - a drag thing, drag mother, and dragtivist (drag activist) - will reveal the act of un/dressing and un/masking as an undeniable personal and social engagement. Rooted in the ethics of dragtivism, the audience will have fun while understanding the impact, realities and production of a character, from finger to toenail.

Taka Taka will start the show by sharing some anecdotes about his experiences being drag-mothered by Jennifer Hopelezz and mothering his own drag kids as a para-family constellation of mutual empowerment.
In the second part, he will share some of his bloodline mother Dimitra’s knitted creations, which are made exclusively for him, but which the audience can wear on their bodies as a means of warm connection, non-verbal communication, and sharing joy. Here, the audience can join Taka Taka in a collective process of dragging to warm up their senses and feel their bodies differently, beyond the demands of their eyes.
In accessible performative exercises, they will explore character creation with tools developed by Taka Taka and rooted in his camp-dragtivist educational practice.

In the third and final part, Taka Taka’s drag granddaughter Lady Bag will lead some interaction with their collection of bags.

Come and be part of a warm, soft socially interconnected entity.

• Panagiotis Pagiotakopoulos (aka Taka Taka) was trained as a professional makeup artist. He studied Fine Arts at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy, followed by the MA ArtEZ program at the Netherlands Art Institute. Taka Taka identifies as a professional dragtivist and art educator producing performances as director of the House of Hopelezz at Club Church, Amsterdam. Taka Taka is a sister to others, a mother of the drag king House of Løstbois and proud daughter of Jennifer Hopelezz. Taka Taka works annually with institutions and collectives such as AIDS Fonds, Global Aids Village, Drag Olympic Games, Begging Babes, and Superball the Battle of European Drag Houses. In 2017, he began sharing his knowledge and methodologies of gender artistic practices in Dutch art schools.