Artivism for Queer Human Rights

MEXA was founded after outbreaks of gender-based violence in homeless shelters in São Paulo. Since then, the collective has been based at Casa do Povo, a revolutionary Jewish cultural center, exploring the relationship between life and art, street and institution, politics and aesthetics.

ASHKAN SHABANI is a documentary photographer, visual storyteller, photo and video journalist based in Germany. His work focuses on the intersections of identity, migration, and queer experiences, with a particular emphasis on underrepresented voices from the Middle East. Shabani began his career as a photojournalist in Iran and has since worked for international media outlets such as Time, The Atlantic, GEO, ZDF, FT Weekend, and others. He is a member of Diversify Photo and Native Agency, and his current work combines journalistic ethics with highly personal narrative forms. Queer, Life, Freedom is part of a longer-term project that deals with queer survival and exile across borders.

KAI-OLIVER FARR is an international lawyer and human rights advocate who has been working in the field of global sustainable development for various organizations on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) for almost 20 years, as well as a freelance consultant and expert on sustainability. Kai-Oliver is chair of the Council for Sustainable Development Policy of the Senate of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. For Engagement Global, Kai-Oliver has been focusing on queer human rights for three years as part of the BMZ's queer-feminist development policy, organizing conferences, workshops, and other formats to empower queer activists and their allies in their defense and struggle for universal queer rights.