Cairo’s World

© Al de Perez

Performer Miss Cairo speaks candidly to Jason Reid about her takes on London, mental health and social media.

 


This week I got on FaceTime to Berlin and had a long and interesting chat with performance artist and activist Miss Cairo.

From mental health stigma to understanding social media, there’s plenty on Cairo’s mind as she prepares for upcoming London gigs and a move from Germany to Australia…

Mental Health

“After my partner and I were attacked on Christmas Eve in 2015, it propelled me into one of my darkest depressive episodes. It brought up childhood trauma and resulted in me having to come to terms with what I’ve endured, and how I function in the world.

With a strain on our mental health services and a lack of access to financial help, I often felt I was falling through the cracks. The language used around mental health issues as well as navigating a ruthless career as an artist have taken its toll on trying to stable myself.

This year, I’m trying to reconnect with the small things, and those small acts from other people which save my life.”

London & Berlin

“London is one of the most isolating and aggressive cities right now, what with everyone fighting against each other, and it just doesn’t allow you to breathe. With the 1% treating us all like pawns in a game of chess, and cashing in on our unhappiness, loss and poverty, whilst we fight to keep our homes and venues.

Most of my earnings went towards rent and costumes, and without any safety in our industry and the way it functions, there’s been times I’ve lost work without any protection. I’ve felt neglected by my community at times, but I’ve always understood that we are all in the same boat, with no healthy way of being able to channel that anger because most of the time we are watching our bank accounts to see if we’ve even been paid on time.

Berlin has been a great place for me to nurture and understand the importance of a healthy social life. It has been a challenge but I’m thankful for it: sometimes I fall deeply in love with the city, and other times I’ve been crying because I need to leave. I’ve not felt entirely comfortable pushing the boat out in Germany.

It’s progressive, but I don’t feel safe, and I don’t know how much people want to engage with racism and transphobia, especially as I’ve witnessed neo-Nazi demonstrations on my doorstep.”

Gender

“It’s 2017, so I’m sure we can all agree that gender is a construct. However, we need to move the conversations away from academia and start reaching out to those who don’t have access to university papers or extensive theories on feminism.

ALL of these conversations are valid, but we need to start giving voices to those that are affected. We need laws changed, and the laws changed should only be to protect people and not to the detriment of others (which is what most of us are saying anyway, it’s just the patriarchy and white supremacy is fragile).

Gender is confusing. My granddad asked me last year to explain it, which ended with me confusing myself as my knowledge is entrenched in colonialism and violence.

I finished the conversation more exhausted because of my own overthinking. The gender binary doesn’t help anyone economically, emotionally or otherwise, but we should all get to decide how we identify without being assaulted, murdered or raped.”

Social Media

“We need to realise as soon as possible how powerful social media is, and that you have to be accountable for what you throw out there.

Isn’t it worrying that the next POTUS is using twitter to agitate international relations? The scary thing is, that even when one of your friends naively shares a Britain First meme, that tiny act encourages genocide too.

The internet is vast, but your one accidental tweet about getting aids in Africa will go viral and cost you your job. I don’t claim to be social media savvy. I’m sure my followers are bored of my updates on my mental health (I’ve even lost work and friends over my social media etiquette) but I’m aware of the power of my words.

A viral challenge can lead to the discovery of a new gene and work towards eradicating a degenerative disease, and one tweet can cause a chain of nuclear bombs to be deployed world wide, resulting in the possible extinction of the human race.

So let’s get more in tune with the power we possess. None of us really know what the fuck we’re doing, but it doesn’t hurt to think a little deeper.”

Miss Cairo is performing at BETHNAL GREEN WORKING MENS CLUB on 21st Jan & 4th Feb.

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