FKA Twigs has always been vocal about her feminist intentions and her support for all women. But in the last few months, the almost outlandish Gloucester artist has used her platform to give to the women suffering greatly during this pandemic.
In July Twigs released a new short film with WeTransfer’s WePresent platform, documenting her performance at an Afropunk festival in Atlanta and a trip to the Georgia capital’s first black strip club. ‘We Are The Womxn’ showed a spiritual healer named Queen Afua performing a sacred moon dance with the ‘Cellophane’ singer, a liberating ritual to “elevate the womxn”.
After the emotional ceremony, the narrative moves to the strip club Blue Flame, a landmark in Atlanta since the 80s. Twigs explained this part of the performance and film as a way to honour the heritage of pole dancing, something close to her heart since the concept of her ‘Cellophane’ music video last year, she reiterated her reasoning was also “to create a matriarchal dominance in a space that’s usually filled with, and run by, male energy”.
FKA Twigs- We Are The Womxn Official Video
At the beginning of this month, Twigs took to her Instagram to talk about supporting sex workers and her own experience working in gentlemen’s clubs at the age of 19 – “I feel like now is the time for me to step forward, pay respect, and shine a light on the challenges facing sex workers, especially during these uncertain times. sex workers I know and have met have discipline, craft, talent and work ethic – not only do they deserve better long-term, but their income has been wiped out by the lockdown and many are invisible to the financial aid available to others.”– she wrote, under a dark, insignificant image of herself.
She continued by announcing that three grassroots sex worker organisations would be taking over her social media channels and that she was donating £10,000 as a starter fund for the organisations. The collectives in charge of the takeover were SWARM, Lysistrata Mutual Care Collective, and the East London Stripper Collective; three organisations dedicated to supporting and protecting sex workers from injustice and criminalisation, each of whom shared their manifestos and further collective lists over the following week along with poems and beautiful photographs of strip club culture and protests.
654AR- Sum Bout U (Official Video) ft. FKA Twigs
The musical and visual artist continued to show solidarity for sex workers as she posed as a webcam girl in the music video for her new song ‘Sum Bout U’ shes featured in with 645AR
Words by Daisy Grace Greetham
Graphics by Georgia Walters
