Lady Slim
| Lady Slim | |
|---|---|
 The first drag queen in Azerbaijan
| |
| Name
Birth |
Seymur Babayev
April 1, 1987
|
| Jobs | Drag queen, model, dancer, activist |
| active years | 2008-present. |
Lady Slim is the first drag queen in Azerbaijan.[1]
Life[edit]
Seymur Babayev was born on April 1, 1987 in Baku. After completing school in 2004, he entered the Faculty of History of Baku State University. In interviews, he mentioned that although he loved his specialty, but he always wanted to be on stage.[2] After completing his studies in 2008, he went to Moscow, where he met the stage activities of drag queens for the first time.[3] After learning everything of this art, he started to perform his first scenes in Moscow and after gaining experience, he returned to his native land Baku.[4]
Career[edit]
Lady Slim as the first drag queen of Azerbaijan, made herself known for the first time in 2010 on the broadcast of Space TV, one of Azerbaijan's famous television channels.[5] Until then, she represented Azerbaijan in the international drag queen competition held in Odesa, Ukraine, and at the final of this competition, she received the titles of "First Vice Miss Travesty International 2010" and "Miss Theme Club".[6] The experts commenting on the results of the competition mentioned Lady Slim's name in particular: "Today there was a great opportunity to give a Theme Club ribbon to a participant from Azerbaijan, by the way, she made a revolution there, because there was never such a thing before in Azerbaijan, it has now gone down in history." [7] Lady Slim's show was also approved and supported by professional artists of Azerbaijan at that time. [8]
In 2011, Lady Slim went to Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, for the international contest "Miss Flawless Queen" to represent Azerbaijan again.[9] She received the title of "Miss Elegant 2011" in this competition.[10] Although Lady Slim's activities were not fully accepted within the country in the following years, the emergence of an artist in such a role in Azerbaijan managed to attract the attention of the international community. One of these is the establishment of world-famous businessman George Soros, the founder of the Open Society Foundations. Mirnaib Hasanov, one of the founders of the Azerbaijan Photographers Union, documented Lady Slim's life for the Open Society Foundations. The film consists of photographs reflecting the artist's daily and stage life. The main purpose was to show the difficult sides of the first drag in Azerbaijan.[11]
In generally, Lady Slim noted that she was constantly harassed, censored and banned by the Azerbaijan government from the moment she first appeared on the scene. As she said in the interview: "The reason why I can't even be on the air anymore is because the producer of the program came to me and told me that the television channels were receiving phone calls from the state authorities, and I was banned from going to the press." [12] In fact, one of the state officials who had the same surname as Slim (Babayev) expressed his objection to Slim speaking with this surname and banned her from appearing on television under surname. She appeared under the name "Babayev's show" according to her surname, until her stage pseudonym was Lady Slim.[13] Later, Slim was completely banned from appearing on television.[14] The BBC says that independent art isn't progressing in conservative Azerbaijan, where the government tries to control mass culture. Azerbaijan is a very conservative country. Anti-gay attacks are strong and actions for women's rights are sporadic, early marriages are common, and patriarchal traditions are strong too.[15] Lady Slim stated in her recent interviews that her stage activities consist only of tours. "Now I live in the country, but I travel abroad frequently. I have performances abroad in venues with large audiences. . . Of course, they value my work abroad more, they find it more interesting, they are aware of drag culture." [16]
In 2021, French media published an interview with Lady Slim as the first drag queen from Azerbaijan on one of Europe's drag queen websites.[17] Lady Slim also attracted the attention of French photographer Gregory Herpe. Herpe took a photo of Lady Slim in Baku and added it to the "Deep into Drag Queen" project.[18][19] In that project, Lady Slim rides the tongue of a skull made from hundreds of skulls; the work of Turkish Kurdish artist Ahmet Guneshtekin. A photo taken in front of the Heydar Aliyev Center, a magnificent modern art museum in the capital of Azerbaijan, designed by Iraqi and British architect Zaha Hadid. It's not easy being a Drag Queen in this part of the world [20] and Lady Slim pushes back against growing anti-queer restrictions to perform at home and abroad.[21]
Contemporary journalists in Azerbaijan believe that artists like Lady Slim remain at the forefront of a cultural movement that challenges norms, promotes acceptance and paves the way for a more inclusive society. Despite the challenges and bigotry she faces, her talent and determination shine through, reminding the world that drag culture is more than just entertainment; it is the embodiment of courage, freedom and the power to redefine social norms.[22]
References[edit]
- ↑ "New program of the first drag queen of Azerbaijan". baku.ws.
- ↑ "Minority Azerbaijan - Yerli Drag Queen ilə müsahibə - Lady Slim". minorityaze.org.
- ↑ "Drag queen show in one of the Baku Clubs". 1news.az.
- ↑ "Bakıda transvestitlərin şousu baş tutdu – Foto". Oxu.Az.
- ↑ "LADY SLIM - 'KIM NƏ BACARIR' YARIŞMASININ YARIFINAL HƏFTƏSINDE..MP4". Archived from the original on 8 October 2021 – via www.youtube.com.
- ↑ "Miss Travesty International 2010". weekend.zone. Archived from the original on 23 October 2022.
- ↑ "Arşivlenmiş kopya". Archived from the original on 21 November 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
- ↑ "Bakı klubunda transsvistlərin ... - FOTO". Strategiya.az News. Archived from the original on 14 February 2023.
- ↑ "LGBT topluluğunun "Dinyester Üzerindeki Gökkuşağı" yıldönümü festivali, "Açıklığa ve eşitliğe doğru!" Sloganıyla gerçekleştirilecek". Archived from the original on 31 January 2023.
- ↑ "Oglinda 2(44) 2011 final by Casian Josan - Issuu". issuu.com. Archived from the original on 23 October 2022.
- ↑ "A Drag Performer in Azerbaijan". Archived from the original on 27 February 2014 – via www.youtube.com.
- ↑ "Arşivlenmiş kopya". Archived from the original on 29 March 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
- ↑ ""Bazı yetkililer, bu travestinin neden Babayev soyadı altında performans gösterdiği gerçeğinden memnun değildi"". Vesti.az. Archived from the original on 30 September 2022.
- ↑ "Coming out but still underground A photographer captures the lives of LGBTQ+ people in Azerbaijan". Meduza. Retrieved 2024-04-07.
- ↑ ""Küçük ama gururlu tiyatro". Muhafazakar bir toplumda seks ve din hakkında nasıl konuşulur?". BBC News Русская Служба. Archived from the original on 8 October 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
- ↑ "Minority Azerbaijan - Interview with Azerbaijani Drag Queen Lady Slim". minorityaze.org. Archived from the original on 20 September 2022.
- ↑ Monsoon, Patsy (3 August 2021). "Lady Slim, 1ere Drag d'Azerbaïdjan - Bienvenue dans le monde des Drag Interviews Drags". Bienvenue dans le monde des Drag (in français). Archived from the original on 19 September 2021. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
- ↑ "Deep into Drag Queens". GregoryHerpe. Archived from the original on 20 October 2022.
- ↑ "Ride the Snake - Baku, Azerbaijan | Deep into Drag Queens". GregoryHerpe (in français). Archived from the original on 25 May 2023. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
- ↑ "Lady Slim, rides the tongue of a skull made of hundreds of skulls". www.singulart.com. 2021. Retrieved 2023-12-11.
- ↑ Biran, Vika (2023-08-04). "Azerbaijan's Drag Queen". Unit | n-ost. Retrieved 2023-12-11.
- ↑ "Defying boundaries: Azerbaijan's drag star". chaikhana. Retrieved 2023-11-02.
Other websites[edit]
- Azerbaijan's drag star minorityaze.org
- A Drag Performer in Azerbaijan from the official youtube channel of the Open Society Foundations
- Lady Slim on Instagram
This article "Lady Slim" is from Simple English Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Lady Slim.
