I caught up with Jaouad Alloul to talk about his project, In The Mood For Love — an exploration of gender, sexuality, intimacy, consent, and love between men. Jaouad , your involvment and dedication to the Belgian queer community is clear : You are one of the founders of the Pride of color, we saw you on stage for Colours of the rainbow, defending queer point of views on television.
Your are singing, acting, directing, dancing. How is it important for you to put your art at the service of queer rights? It is all connected for me. I feel very blessed that my complex identity gives me the experience to touch certain topics.
With getting older, I feel my voice becomes more rooted and confident. As an artist I can explore the freedom to express myself and at the same time touch matters that mean a lot to me.
Can you explain us how the idea to bring all this together came to you? In my life I have met a lot of sex workers. I could identify with their struggle and I could see that these people were just doing a job, often forced into.
I recognized a lot of patterns that I, as a gay man, also have around my sexuality. I want to raise awareness for sex workers because they are also part of our LGBT family. Last but not least I want to invite people to explore their sexuality because sex is fun and a vital part of a happy life.
