In the legendary documentary Paris is Burning, about the ballroom scene in New York in the 1980s, Octavia Saint Laurent speaks about her experience. After performing in the category “Wealth,” she says: “This was not a game for me, this was something I wanna live.” In a fitted pencil skirt, large clip-on earrings, and hair piled high, she exudes the air of a Parisienne. For her, the life of a rich, charming woman in Paris was not a game. In the basement of a New York club, she could inhabit that life, if only for a moment.

The ballroom scene emerged as a safe haven for Black and Latina LGBTQ+ people, especially trans women and queer youth, in the racist and transphobic environment of 1980s America. During balls, members of chosen families (Houses) competed in categories such as dance, fashion, and performance. Ballroom was—and remains—more than expression: it is resistance and survival.

Octavia became known through Paris is Burning. As an intersex person, she advocated for trans and queer rights until her death in 2009. Her dream of being rich and famous was not about money, but about the right to visibility—the desire to occupy space as naturally as wealthy white women in Paris. Midway through the film, she says:
“Hopefully, God willing, by 1988 I fully hope to become a full-fledged woman of the United States.”

Artist Yamuna Forzani’s work in Villa explores queer utopias and femininity, inspired by her love and dedication to the women in her life.

Feminine energy

On the ground floor, in front of a light-blue curtain, hangs a pink wall piece. Yamuna created it in collaboration with typographic designer Céline Hurka. The textile is crafted using quilting techniques, and the puffy 3D fabric reveals the text Sacred Ethereal Feminine Energy. The piece celebrates sacred and feminine energy. The letters appear partially overgrown with flowers, using the flower as a symbol for this energy. Created in 2023, this work marks the start of the collaboration between Yamuna and Céline. Together, they researched archives and museum collections, including the Amsterdam Museum, looking for works and symbols by female creators. This led them to historical objects like samplers and banners, which inspired new, inclusive typefaces.

Paintings of fabric

The other three works in Yamuna’s space resemble paintings but are made of textile. Through these pieces, she reimagines Renaissance paintings through a queer lens, placing her community on a pedestal. The fabrics are knitted, bright, and lively, embellished with beads and glitter. She refers to these knitted artworks as love letters to the women in her life. Her best friend Sydney, for example, is depicted as a lush Venus. In an interview with VPRO, she says:
“For these works, I invited friends from my community into my studio, where I photographed them in sets inspired by Renaissance paintings, with elements of romance and decadence. I then edited and programmed the photos so they could be knitted. What I love about this process is that knitting also introduces a certain anonymity to the portraits. That anonymity allows more people to connect with them. That is what I value about knitting.”[3]

Each piece reflects weeks of work: designing the set, photographing, programming the files, knitting the fabric at the Textile Museum, hours of hand-embroidery with beads, and finally mounting the piece on a frame.

The ballroom scene

Yamuna frequently references Paris is Burning as a major source of inspiration. While the documentary informs her practice, in Villa her focus is not on the film itself but on (trans) women and their energy in general. Trained as a fashion designer, she is part of both the national and international ballroom scene—within the Dutch Kiki House of Angels and internationally with the House of Comme Des Garçons. In her practice, she seeks to make queer utopias possible. She organizes the annual Utopia Ball x Fashion Show in The Hague and has for years dressed people from the ballroom scene. In a recent interview with Gallery Viewer, she says:
“What I love most about being part of the ballroom scene is that I can truly experiment with creating, designing outfits, and expressing myself as a queer woman. Ballroom gave me the confidence I lacked after my experiences in the toxic fashion industry and at art school. When I attended my first ball, I immediately fell in love with the energy, the people, and the sheer freedom. It felt like coming home.”[4]

In the documentary, Octavia Saint Laurent speaks of her desire to become a full and complete woman—a wish that should be a right. More than forty years after the footage was shot, that dream, in which so little was asked, feels further away than ever.

In the same Gallery Viewer interview, Yamuna emphasizes that she owes everything to the Femme Queens like Octavia, who came before her and fought immense battles. Through her work, she aims to continue the open and free space they created. She does so in a world increasingly hostile to the queer community:
“As a white cisgender woman, I know I am a guest in the ballroom community, and I never take for granted that I am so warmly welcomed. Ballroom has shaped me into who I am, and I am endlessly grateful to the legends and pioneers who built this space for us. Ballroom exists thanks to trans women of color. The Femme Queens in this community taught me to love myself, embrace my femininity, and occupy space in a way I never knew before.

I look up to them immensely, and it breaks my heart to see how society repeatedly fails trans people. The world is growing more hateful, more right-wing, and now—more than ever—we need safe spaces like ballroom: places where people can be themselves without fear.”[5]

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nI7EhpY2yaA&t=2738s

[2] Idem

[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmLCPflqdXA

[4] https://galleryviewer.com/en/article/2877/het-atelier-van-yamuna-forzani

[5] Idem