Here, to our first.
A collaboration with Purr by 宀 (Mihn) to create an intersectional femme-centric space in Hong Kong.
At the Stardust art exhibition, I was introduced to Laura, who is the art curator at 宀 gallery. We talked about how we both wanted to create an alternative space for our femme centric communities and form an inclusive collective of music and culture enthusiasts in Hong Kong.
The idea of Puurr was born. We then recruited a few talented friends to drum up the basis of Puurr, and we have been actively discussing how to expand on the idea since...
What is PUURR?
“PUURR” is an inclusive cultural collective empowered by 宀.
We are an intersectional femme space focusing on activities that unite us together. There have always been limited spaces that support marginalised groups in our society, and we are here to make this space for all to safely express ourselves.
This is the PUURR Manifesto,
“We are them, They are you, You are all of us. Together we are whatever we want to be!
We donʼt know where weʼre going, and itʼs okay.
We keep dancing and moving forward to expand the boundaries of space.
For us, for them, and FOR ALL.”
Who are PUURR’s core members?
Laura Zhang – Art curator of 宀 Gallery, Co-Founder of Puurr
Bertha Chan – Host, Co-founder of Puurr, Founder of DrasticSocial.com and Curvasian.com
Alison Tan – Food Designer, performance artist
Ellie Suh – Artist, Illustrator
Beatrice Wong – multi hyphenate creative
Alexia Rutter, Dj & Booking Manager of voyage Agency
A Martha Operation
Recap of our High Tea Focus Group
On the 1st of March, before the COVID-19 started affecting us locally, we organised a focus group meetup to ask 30 individuals in the music and creative space.
We opened with a teaser by showcasing some of our collective’s passion projects
- Stephanie Teng – Photography for Madame Figaro: Louis Vuitton Editorial with Model Shawn McRae
- Tiffany Huang – Spill Stories
- Alison’s Tan – Art performance: The Complimentary Waffles
- Megan van Wyk, Singer-songwriter – Song: “Safe Space”
During the event, we also discussed 2 important issues that give us some direction for inclusivity to develop some ideas and guidelines for future events.
1.What are some of the issues with the current clubbing culture?
Attitude: Toxic Expat Entitlement, “Ladies Night” Culture, Sexualising womxn for financial gains, No real connections
Intersectionality: Lack of space that draws in both locals and ex-pats, LGBT spaces generally caters to G only
Environment: In general gross-ness of clubs, need space for conversations, spiked drinks, and groping problems
2.What do you want to see in an inclusive club space?
Music: Different types of Music – Disco, the 80s, House, Hip hop.More local talents, Femme and POC (People of Colour) DJs.
Event Ideas: Sober Nights! Dance night without alcohol Liberating Events, Dress Up nights (All Puurr events are dress-up nights!), Drag Brunch, Cabaret with a diversity of genders, nude talk + drawing, Day Waves, Earlier parties, include men, 宀 cuddles, Celebrate Trans/Non-Binary identities, featured artists
Space: Sex inclusive + exclusive toilets, female bouncers, wheelchair accessibility, safe space policy, visual contents, installations, footwork, More femme/ POC DJs
Food & Beverage: Food! Bread <3, variety of non-alcoholic beverages, CLUB MATE lemonade, Tea! 宀 Brunch, Water fountain / Cup deposit
Whats next?
We have gathered this information to design our next event, exploring different subjects and create together with our collective an inclusive environment to discuss different topics. After 5 months of corona time, we are finally able to launch our first event next week on 15th July.
If you would like to be a part of Puurr collective and attend our community events, please subscribe to our newsletters and we will see you soon!
Drastic Social 