Reykjavík Grapevine - 29.07.2016, Page 33

33The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 11 — 2016
been used against him. "It's not
that I want to be anything other
than I am," says Hólmar about
the misconception that dressing
in drag is an expression of gender
identity. "You're just putting on a
costume, you're putting on a show.
It's just like an actor on a stage, it's
no different from being in a Santa
costume."
"It's a magical fucking tool,"
Hafsteinn says about drag. Before
doing drag, he says he was feeling
depressed, but now he's been able
to connect with his identity in
new ways. "It's opening doors in
my mind and my life that's mak-
ing me feel more appreciative and
powerful," he says. "Who'd have
thought that a pair of heels would
make you feel better!"

The RuPaul Effect

The royalty of Drag-Súgur say they
see themselves as part of a drag
"renaissance" that's happening in
Iceland and around the world. The
re-emergence of drag as a popular
form of art and performance is
undoubtedly thanks to the televi-
sion show ‘RuPaul's Drag Race’,
which in recent years has become
popular even beyond the queer
community.
"Queens everywhere in the
world are so much further along
just because of all this exposure,"
says Hólmar. When he first did
drag in secondary school, Hól-
mar says he only had his female
friends to help him with makeup
and outfits. "I never did it again
until two years ago I was watch-
ing ‘RuPaul's Drag Race’ and I was
like, 'Oh, this is what it takes to be
a real drag queen,'" he says. "I re-
ally loved the show, and I wanted
to do everything like they were do-
ing it."
As opposed to other cities such
as London, where there is a par-
ticular style of drag performance,
Richard says Icelandic drag clearly
finds inspiration from the queens
on RuPaul's show. "Because there
hasn't been such a long history in
Iceland, you can see with Drag-
Súgur that people aren't just bas-
ing it off of traditions that have
already passed," he says. "There's a
complete diversity of performers."

Introducing: Queer
Reykjavík

One of the Drag-Súgur's main tri-
umphs has been reuniting and re-
vitalizing the queer community in
Reykjavík, says Hafsteinn. "I feel
like I'm at a reunion sometimes
because I'll see queer people that
I haven't seen in years and then
they just show up to our shows,"
he says. Drag-Súgur has grown
to about fifteen regular perform-
ers, as well as a growing network
of other queer artists in Reykjavík.
Australian comedian Jonathan
Duffy has been hosting the drag
shows since they started at Gau-
kurinn last year, and agrees that
Drag-Súgur has been important
for building community. "I've been
doing comedy for twelve years and
as a gay comedian, I would say this
is the only time I've ever seen an
audience that is just so mixed," he
says. "It's such a massive variety of
cross-sections of society who have
all come to watch this one thing
that brings all of them joy."
Although Hafsteinn says he
doesn't know how Drag-Súgur will
evolve in the coming months and
years, he hopes it will continue to
be an inclusive space in Reykjavík.
"People come to the show to find
respite from being weird," he says.
"Nobody's going to come in and
feel bad about themselves when
there are so many strange things
happening. It's a place for outsid-
ers to come and just breathe."
Drag-Súgur will be performing
at Iðnó on August 2 as part of the
Reykjavík Pride programme. They
will also be part of the Gaukurinn
float in the Pride parade and will
be performing in the festival fol-
lowing the parade.
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