Member Spotlight: Oskar Kirk Hansen AKA Mystika Glamoor

It’s Pride Month! During June, we are spotlighting members of the LQBTQIA+ community who contribute so much to Edinburgh’s creative life.

Oskar Kirk Hansen, perhaps better known as Mystika Glamoor, is one such leading light. The self-described High Priestess of Edinburgh drag runs a much-loved weekly cabaret, has performed internationally, and co-owns Kafe Kweer, an award-winning queer safe space. 

We caught up with them to find out more about their creative practice and how they found community and their preferred artform in Edinburgh.

We last caught up at our awards in November where you gave an enchanting performance. What have you been up to since?

Since that fabulous night at the CE Awards in November, I’ve been hosting my two monthly shows, GLAMOOR on the first Monday of the month at The Street, and KABARET KWEER at Paradise Palms on the third Thursday of each month. I’ve also been working hard at Kafe Kweer, as well as sending off funding applications for future projects, but more on that later…

How did you get into drag? When did you know you wanted to explore the artform?

After moving to Edinburgh seven years ago, I didn’t really know anyone, so I just started going to local drag shows to see what the scene was like here and meet like-minded people. I had studied filmmaking and worked in experimental video at the time, so started making videos for some of the local shows, and eventually started wearing atrocious makeup to do so. With the support of the kings and queens around me, I started performing as Mystika Glamoor, the ‘surrealist socialist socialite’, mixing camp humour with political statements and witchy, tarot infused references. Drag just made so much sense with my personality and mixture of interests, and once it started working out for me, I knew that I had finally settled on my preferred artform. 

You have done a LOT in your career so far. What are your highlights?

On a subtle level, some of the highlights of drag are the moments when you realise how much it means to people, and how as an artform it can help people get over their issues, whether you’re in the audience or performing on stage. It’s a whole artform about taking the seriousness of life and turning it into fun, silliness, and empowerment. 

On a more material scale, here’s some absolute career highlights:

• Performing for multiple years in a row at Lila Queer Festival in Zurich, which I’m thrilled to say I’ll be returning to this September with my solo show ‘BETWEEN REVOLUTIONS’. 
• A portrait of mine by Craig Waddell was exhibited in the National Portrait Gallery as part of the Scottish Census exhibition.
• Being one of the models featured in last year’s Edinburgh Fringe programme cover and promotional material 
• A portrait of mine by Nicolò Urbani being selected as part of the Scottish Portrait Awards

People might not know that you also co-own Kafe Kweer. Can you tell us about that?

At the beginning of 2020 I was starting to really take drag seriously as a full-time job. The universe had other ideas and sent us the pandemic, forcing drag queens to work from home making online shows. One day I saw a Facebook post about a small shop looking for someone to take it over, and shared it, mostly as a joke, saying ‘wouldn’t it be nice if we had a queer sober space in Edinburgh?’. My friend Zak Riding, who has more managerial experience than me, texted me saying ‘should we do it?’. And so we did! After a successful fundraising campaign and a whirlwind of re-painting, we opened in September 2020, as a cheap and cheerful space to sell local queer art, a variety of groceries, vegan food and pastries, as well as hosting a variety of social events and monthly exhibitions. Despite the pandemic and the more recent cost of living crisis, we have persevered thanks to the support of the community, who saw in us a little sliver of hope and potential amidst the chaos. Nothing has touched me more than seeing queer families, parents with queer children, and older queer people, have a low-key sober space to connect and see themselves represented during such a time of strife. It’s my pride and joy, and balances out the mania of drag very well. We’re open every single day between 8:30-5.

You have lived in quite a few countries - Thailand, Italy, Denmark. What drew you to Edinburgh? 

Due to my parent’s work I grew up all over the planet; across South East Asia as a child, in Italy for my teenage years, before moving to Denmark to study film at the European FIlm College and connect with my Danish father’s side of the family. However, I found Denmark somewhat creatively sterile, and decided I wanted to live in a country where everyone spoke English for the first time in my life. 

My mother had recently moved to Fife, and has family ties with Edinburgh, from grandparents working in Edinburgh’s hospitals and medical schools, to my great-great-great aunt being the artist Phoebe Anna Traquair. When I first moved here I sent in a rushed application to Edinburgh College Of Art, but my portfolio was lacking and rushed, so I just threw myself into my personal experimental work, and eventually started wiggling about in drag, where I truly found my voice and the career I have today. I love the size and aesthetics of Edinburgh, and enjoy that it’s easy to meet and collaborate with fellow creative people.  

What’s next for you? Any projects you can give us a hint about?

As well as a busy Pride month full of gigs, I’m excited to be developing my solo show BETWEEN REVOLUTIONS, which premiered last summer at Hidden Door Festival. I will be performing it in Switzerland this September, and am working on finding the right accessible venue for it here in Edinburgh too. The show is an adaptation of a radical queer text called ‘The F*ggots And Their Friends Between Revolutions’, which is part fable, part political manifesto about how we as queer people survive persecution through radical joy, art, and solidarity. I recommend everyone read the book, and keep your eyes peeled for announcements about when my show will be coming back to Edinburgh!

Follow me on instagram for updates:

@mystika.glamoor 

@kafekweer  

@glamoorkk  

Photos by Hope Holmes, Liam Baker, Craig Waddell, Nicolò Urbani.