Shiraz Soeker

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SHIRAZ SOEKER, also known as Saadiq Soeker, is a photographer and performance artist. In their art practice, they focus on Gender and Sexuality in communities of Colour. In photography they aim to develop and add to the Archive of the experience of Queer People of Colour, they also explore the Eroticism and Intimacy of Queer people and how its represented. In performance, they focus on explorations of self and intersectional identity in relation to the community using surrealism.

 

Their photographic work titled Mamof Aunty - Girls Night was featured in the exhibition Past Present Future In Flux which was the culmination of the work produced in Creative Avenue In Flux Residency. This was a playful depiction of queer family and an exploration of the ‘Aunty’ archetype for Queer People of Colour. Mamof Aunty is an ongoing series.

 

They have photographic work featured in Sensored magazine which explores Queer intimacy, sensuality, and eroticism in a budding romance.

 

Over the last two years, they’ve been working on the intersections of Islam, Gender, and Performance through a body of work titled Disco Niqabi. Disco Niqabi is a continual series encompassing performance, video, and photographic work. It draws from a range of influences including the iconic Women of the Disco era, the Queer Ballroom scene, Shirin Neshat, the Algerian Independence struggle, Spy films, and Exploitation films of the 70s. Through Disco Niqabi they seek to express through both performance and visual art the vastness of the self and the gendered/degendered/regendered experience of someone grappling with identity.