Club Billboard

"Love letter to Cypriot Creatives" I’m Yasmin Avdji, a photographer and storyteller based between London and Cyprus, with my work helping build the new generation of visual culture. The image series I share today is a love letter to my original muses, to my creative and queer Cypriot community who give me all the support, love and soul food needed to survive as a creative in today’s age. The series features Performance artist Sonay Sevgum and Drag artist Cosmo, whose use of styling, acting, and song encourages peace and acceptance within Cyprus and London’s divided diaspora. The Cypriot creative scene is resilient and connected globally from the UK to Cyprus. It welcomed many of us who felt out of place at times growing up in our culture, only to find that it is our culture which makes us – key to Cosmo’s and Sonay’s practises, which draw on Cypriot traditions, humour, and visual culture. Performance art is central to many Cypriots' practices, as shown in this series. It captures Sonay filming our collaborative short “Kezban Kultur” and Cosmo backstage at a drag show in Nicosia. Their art bridges cultural divides and celebrates community, which I aim to share and cultivate with these images. (Note: files have been compressed for sharing - photos are in CMYK - higher resolution on request available)