Book presentation Publication Series of the Academy Vol. 29 Sexual Dissidences
Presentation of the 29th volume of the Publication Series of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna.
Sexual Dissidences. Frau Diamanda’s Catalan Scenes, Travesti Politics of Resistance, and Anti-Canonical Knowledge.
Edited by Oke Fijal, Marina Gržinić, Sen Reyes, and Melina Vesely
Publication Series of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Volume 29
Sternberg Press, 2025
Sexual Dissidences: Frau Diamanda’s Catalan Scenes, Travesti Politics of Resistance, and Anti-Canonical Knowledge brings together travesti writers, voices, performers, artists, and historians, highlighting their sharp and creative engagement with oppressive systems. Their power lies in their refusal to be erased. The idea for this book emerged in the summer of 2023, when students and faculty from three art academies—in Vienna, Barcelona, and Mainz—gathered in Barcelona as part of the EU academic exchange Blended Intensive Programme (BIP). During this experience, we encountered some of the most vital and defiant individuals, groups, and communities within Barcelona’s migrant, underground, activist, and grassroots scene.
As Lucas Platero Méndez, Associate Professor at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, noted:“The book transports you to the cruising zones of Barcelona! There, Frau Diamanda is the mistress, owner, and sovereign of her desire. She delivers a powerful anti-racist critique while sharing her experiences in the Catalan scene.”
Welcoming words by Dr. Johan F. Hartle, Rector of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna
Book presentation with the Editors of the book and guests: Frau Diamanda, Pol Comelles Allué, and Jesús Arpal Moya
Moderated by Mayra Jenzer Azevedo
Language: English
Join us in this meander of revolt, words, vision—another future.
Biographies
Frau Diamanda (1971, Lima, Peru) is a translator, writer, travesti audiovisual artist, drag performer, independent curator, cultural infector, DJ, and occasional actress. Since 1999, she has existed as the artistic alter ego of Héctor Acuña. She has lived in Barcelona since 2016. In 2017–18, she attended the PEI Independent Studies Programme at MACBA, and in 2020 her book Escenas catalanas: Errancias antropológico-sexuales (Catalan Scenes: Anthropological-Sexual Wanderings) was published by Barcelona’s La Máquina.
Pol Comelles Allué (aka Hermanos Alquézar) is a founding member and artistic director of the Colectivo La Máquina, an art collective dedicated to producing (counter)cultural projects that blend art, literature, and experimental music. He is also the chief editor of La Máquina’s publishing label. As a performer, he is involved in several experimental music projects, including Avenc, Ca de Bestiar, and ESPAÑA.
Jesusi / Jesusa / Jesús Arpal Moya (all pronouns) is an artist and cultural producer. They hold an MA from the Drawing Department of the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Barcelona. Since 1999, they have been part of the artistic team Jeleton, and since 2014, of the Barcelona-based cultural cooperative La Caníbal SCCL.
Moderation
Mayra Jenzer Azevedo (they/them) is a writer, performer, and cultural mediator. They hold a BA in Art History and German Philology from the University of Basel, have contributed to various (online) magazines, and have developed mediation concepts for institutions such as the Stapferhaus (Lenzburg ZH) and the cultural association Out & About (Basel, CH). Mayra also performs as the Drag King “Major Simp.” They are currently studying in the MA Critical Studies program at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, where they explore camp aesthetics and vampirism as methods of resistance against the bio- and necropolitical definition of queer existences.