Utopian club night and arts festival for queer femmes and their friends.
vFd London, January – October 2018
Feature Image: Phoebe, Kat and Lyall, vFd 2017
WE HAVE COME TO BUILD A PARADISE IN HELL
Femmetopia
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We refuse to settle for what we have been given, we are coming together to imagine and enact new and better pleasures, other ways of being, and ultimately new worlds.
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Femmetopia is a space for radical visions, passionate transgressions and your wildest imagination. It is our space to prove it is possible to do things differently.
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“There are not many places where we can freely embrace and fully celebrate expressions of feminine genders, in all their glory and gloriousness. … [At Femmetopia] People presented with a nonconforming confidence I’ve never seen in a gay bar”
Amin Ghaziani, Long Live Queer Nightlife:How the Closing of Gay Bars Sparked a Revolution
Kat co-founded Femmetopia with Dr Phoebe Patey-Ferguson whilst working at vFd (aka Vogue Fabrics Dalston) nightclub and community arts space in North East London.
Phoebe and Kat, with vFd’s owner Lyall Hakaria, relaunched the nightclub as a much needed femme-led, femme-centred queer venue in January 2018.
Femmetopia was primarily created to be a consistent space where femme-led collectives, artists and performers could host takeovers of the nightclub on Saturday nights – Supported by promotion from the club and organisation, hosting and DJ-ing from Phoebe and Kat.
Kat’s femme-centred logo design for vFd
Collaborators included, Lucy McCormick, Femme Feral, Genn Nomie, Xoey Fourr, Unskinny Bop, Bishi, Marikiscrycrycry, ShayShay, Louise Orwin, Bones Tan Jones, Pxssy Palace, Figs in Wigs, FEM Zine, A Cinematic Masterpiece, Miss Rosewood, Simone Simone & Eros, Miss Hernia
“We create our own utopias in our clubs, a version of reality in which we are no longer the marginalised group but dominant owners of our very own pocket of the world. … I’m proud to say that we’ve created a truly empowering space, with an intersectional feminist ethos, that celebrates queer women, femmes, femmeX, trans, QTIPOC, non-binary radical queers. With empowerment and community comes strength and resilience: important assets in our fight against the patriarchy.”
Kat Hudson on Femmetopia for i-D
THE FUTURE IS FEMME
Femmetopia
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PATRIARCHY IS FALLING
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QUEER UTOPIA IS COMING
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Following an interview with Kat in 2018, Femmetopia was featured in Amin Ghaziani‘s Long Live Queer Nightlife: How the Closing of Gay Bars Sparked a Revolution, Princeton University Press, March 2024.
‘In this exhilarating journey into underground parties, pulsating with life and limitless possibility, acclaimed author Amin Ghaziani unveils the unexpected revolution revitalizing urban nightlife.’
Find Long Live Queer Nightlife by Amin Ghaziani at your local bookshop or academic library. UK online purchase recommendation: place an order for UK delivery with Gay’s The Word Bookshop.
Selected posters –
Poster designs by Kat for Femmetopia – Left to right: Kat hosts ft. Kasra Jalilipour, Lauren J. Joseph, Lewis G. Burton and Ms Sharon Le Grand • Pxssy Palace’s Femmetopia • Marikiscrycrycry’s Femmetopia, Unskinny Bop’s Femmetopia • Fatberg Femmetopia with Miss Hernia • Figs in Wigs’ Femmetopia • Femmetopia ft. ACM Band LIVE • Kat’s Birthday Femmetopia
Femmetopia Festival: Deeds Not Words
vFd London
23rd – 28th May 2018
Femmetopia Festival was a six-day festival of art, performance and protest, celebrating and exploring intersectional collective power! The long-weekend featured a packed lineup of artits, performers and DJs curated by Phoebe and Lyall including, FK Alexander, Lucy McCormick and Travis Alabanza, performances, workshops and parties. The festival culminated with Karen Finley performing her piece, Unicorn Gratitude Mystery – a response to contemporary American politics, ideas of whiteness, and of the agency of the female body in a world controlled by a male elite.
Femme
vFd and Rio Cinema, London
23rd – 28th May 2018
Open-submission exhibition curated by Kat to accompany Femmetopia Festival.
Femme explored the definition of ‘femme’ and the intersectionality of modern feminism, in celebration and critique of the centenary of women’s suffrage.
Exhibitors
Angel Rose, Ashton Attzs, Atena Karimi, Ciara Movana, Eleni Tomadaki-Balomenou, Elouiza Mae France, Eve Kennedy, Gillian O’Shea, Hannah Martin, Hannah Thomas, Hatty Carman, Hello The Mushroom, Ina Gouveia, Karen Finley, Kasra Jalilipour, Kat Hudson, Lauren J. Joseph, Linnéa Haviland, Mandy Niewohner, Marnie Scarlet, Maša Travljanin, MC Cartier, Moa Johansson, Parthena Charistea, Pedro Mainman, Ranafarba, Sangeeta Bhagawati, Sarah Jo Brown, Scarlett Langdon, Suzie Pindar, Tiger Hutchence-Geldof
Exhibition opening photos by Richard Kaby
References and further reading:
1918 Representation of the People Act – parliament.uk
Safíra Anouk “Femme is Radical, and Femme-Shaming Isn’t Feminist” – Harlot Media (2016)
“What We Mean When We Say “Femme”: A Roundtable” – Autostraddle (2016)
“11 Common Assumptions About Being a Queer Femme – Debunked – Everyday Feminism” – Everyday Feminism (2016)
“Bittersweet Like Me: Lemonade and Fat Black Femme Erasure” – wearyourvoicemag.com
