Badgalcovphephe and Papaphilia are whore-family who are devoted to pleasure in all its manifestations. Everything they do centres the erotic: from familial bonds, cultures, communities, and their work. 

 “Sex work is one way we express ourselves - like any other form of devotion we have our rituals, we take pride in our work, and the money we accrue funds the building of our communities. Devotion is not without its challenges. As South Asian queers in a colony context who don’t conform to gender normative frameworks - hustling in an environment dominated by white cis heteronormative and neurotypical dynamics is never straightforward. And we’re not just talking about the clients!”

Join Badgalcovphephe and Papaphilia for a devotional session with two multifaceted performers in the business of pleasure. Their performance includes storytelling, a strip stage set, and a Multimedia-Dj performance

Badgalcovphephe (She/they)

is an unapologetic sex worker, writer, activist, model and performer based in Naarm who uses their Instagram to explore the intersection of being a queer Muslim Indian/Iranian/multi-racial femme in a white world. The racism and discrimination they’ve experienced in the sex industry and creative spaces has shaped their take on feminism, desi/SWANA (Middle Eastern) identity, sexuality, Islam, being queer and community healing. Their work explores these common threads. Badgalcovphephe has participated in storytelling events such as The Intro Room run sex worker collective Debby Doesn’t Do It For Free and Sharing Sex Work in India and Australia by TØS Journal. Their work has been published in PEDESTRIAN.TV and TØS Journal and they have actively working with Vixen Transition Committee for the full decriminalisation of sex work in Victoria and have established the current Scarlet Alliance and Vixen anti-racism consultation in progress.

Papaphilia (She/her)

is the experimental electronic project of queer Narrm/Melbourne-based sound and visual artist. She is a researcher, community organiser, sound and visual artist, and parent - whose work interrogates the aesthetics of political representation and cultural supremacy in the contemporary formation of the colony. Descended from South Asian and British heritages, Papaphilia operates at the intersection of several idioms in all areas. Papaphilia operates at the intersection of several dance idioms, intertwining hard kicks, industrial beats, acid oscillations with mutated vocals - all grounded in remix cultures subverting western musical values. Papaphilia continually draws the listener’s attention back to ancestral experiences that guide embodied form and knowledge—rhythm, voice, and emotion.