Monel.le Sadow
Monel.le is a Belgian non-binary puppeteer, performer, director, visual artist, and jewelry maker.
Born in Brussels, they got their master's degree in Communication and Performing Arts at the University of Liège. They are passionate about visual art, theater, puppetry, and traveling. After graduating, they moved to New Zealand to travel and worked in a queer vegan animal sanctuary. They also lived in Australia for two years, in Melbourne, and toured around the country as a stage manager for Darkfield -an immersive multi-sensory theater company. During their travels, they learned more about themself and their own identity.
“A Violet life”
After working on different puppet shows with companies such as Point Zero, Snuff Puppet, etc., they are now directing in Belgium - their first personal show “A Violet life” by the They Collectif, created with Margaux Adam. This interdisciplinary show (theatre, puppetry, dance, and shadow theatre) questions gender, identity, and more specifically transgender identities via a visual and poetic approach. It’s the story of Violet, born - and without question - assigned female at birth. What does it mean to be a female, girl, woman? Violet doesn’t feel like any of that. What does it feel like to be a male, boy, man? It still doesn’t sound right either. Feeling like a stranger, an outsider, Violet tries without any success to fit into arbitrary boxes. They’ll find their identity by breaking norms and build a life outside of Pink and Blue - a Violet life.
They Collective
They Collectif is an artistic interdisciplinary collective created by two Belgian non-binary artists: Monel.le Sadow (puppeteer, director, designer, and visual artist) and Margaux Adam (actor/actress, writer, director, and visual artist).
Their goals :
Question gender issues, reflect on gender and identity and explore beyond the outdated gender binary
Value and give more visibility to transgender and/or non-binary artists
Share knowledge and experiences by the mediums of theatre, puppets, visual arts, creative writing and education
Create a community of non-binary or gender-diverse artists sharing the same intersectional values
TheyRiel
During the pandemic, while seeing theatres closing all around the world, Monel.le started learning new things and created their own brand TheyRiel. A small one-person shop, creating handmade shiny, kinky, genderless accessories for the queer community. It’s very important for them to have an accessible and inclusive brand.
TheyRiel is a small one-person brand creating genderless accessories. Everything is handmade with love and tenderness. Materials are shiny, holographic and vegan. You can find chokers, earrings, broaches, and soon harnesses.
TheyRiel also sells prints of their original artwork. Their work is inspired by queer culture, intersectional feminism, anti-capitalism, body positivity, anti-racism, but also nature and witches.
TheyRiel is inclusive, fat-positive, sex-work positive, sex-positive. Their accessories are tailor-made for every gender and body type. The brand does not tolerate any transphobic, homophobic, racist, fatphobic, misogynistic behaviors.
Monel.le’s artistic practices are all interconnected, and another way to express their reflection on gender is through the medium of drag. They also started during the first lockdown and are still learning every day. Drag is a very fun and freeing way to explore and express themself in a creative way.