Première: Finally, Barbin at Podium Bloos

Finally, Barbin. is a multimedia performance in which performer Marleen Hendrickx brings 19th-century French intersex Herculine Barbin to life. With dance, projection, and playful acting, she liberates Herculine's experiences from the compulsive attempts to classify them as male or female.

The starting point is Herculine's memoirs, in which she describes how she was legally declared male after a secret relationship with a female colleague. Over a century later, philosopher Michel Foucault discovers these memoirs and publishes them along with medical reports, a romanticised version by German psychiatrist Oskar Panizza, and his own reflections. Thus, three men ruthlessly impose their voice on Herculine.

With Enfin, Barbin. Marleen Hendrickx restores ownership to the rightful owner. At last, Herculine herself gets to speak. In one movement, Marleen switches between herself, Herculine, Panizza, and Foucault. Glitter beard and moustache cling to her body, as if their male gaze cannot be fully washed away. At the same time, the performance alludes to contemporary drag culture.

In doing so, Marleen offers Herculine what she herself received after coming out as intersex: love, a queer family, and applause. But above all: the right to celebrate yourself, especially when the world sees you as a problem.