The Gélédé Queens exhibit at the Market Gallery, Toronto

Until December 30, 2023

Inspired by the West African festival which is a masked performance in veneration of the society’s ancestral mothers, "Gélédé Queens" is a multi-media experience that emphasizes gender-bending, “African Drag” and Vogue as an artistic expression. Using documentary, fashion and performance, Destinie Adélakun rebuilds and explores the truths that have been denied and the apparency of gender nonconformity in West-African mythologies. The work celebrates self-expression and the commonalities of the diaspora that were lost in the oceans during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.

The artist would like to thank: Lowel Alomar, Yasmin Ali, Matthew Cuff, Kwasi Obeng, Tega Ididmi, Eva Kalenda, Eshe Simba, Jackie Kouth, Zarah Lawal, Dimitri Nelson, Samer Ajaj, Kobena Aquaa-Harris, Adékunle Olorundare, Trudy-Ann M, Fate Hoque, Halle Turner, Tamunoibifiri Fombo, Charlotte Carbone and Omo Iserhienrhien.

More information: Toronto History Museums