NAU NUA: MISUNGUI

The inexplainable creative impulse

Misungui © Denis Lucas

Misungui is the mystery, what's on the other side of the mirror. Her latest project is the film République / Filles du Calvaire by Sarah Vicomte but creativity never stops in Misungui’s life. She studied political science and a master degree in gender studies for which she wrote a thesis entitled Baiser comme un homme, la pornographie ou les nouveaux enjeux du féminisme ( To fuck like a man, pornography or the new goals of feminism). Then she discovered a world of feminists who saw or produced pornography or explicit sex shows. She became interested in the film Too much pussy by Émilie Jouvet and after attending a show of Wendy Delorme, she decided to approach her to congratulate her. The Wendy took her hand and asked her to replace her in the number with Louise de Ville. She agreed and so it began. Her artistic name comes from her name in a shaman plant initiation of the Pygmies of Gabon (the Iboga), and means "the spirit of the wild cat." Thus was born Misungui who says being inspired by her ghosts, fears, questions about identity, the nature / culture dichotomy, sexuality, the body in general and modesty.

Who is Misungui?

Misungui is a queer character (ie, nor man or woman or trans or androgynous or anything classifiable) who plays through performances, pictures and written and oral speeches for a libertarian society and solidarity, so anarcho-communist.

You define yourself as a performer and model, queer and pro-sex feminist, anarcho-communist, militant of self-management and self-determination. Could you tell us about the queer feminism?

The queer movement is essentially anarchist, it encourages people to reappropriate their history, their culture, both from a purely sociological view as representing the most contemporary biopolitics. It is about understanding that the sexed body is constructed by culture and by chemical after decades if not centuries, and it is also about appropriating this mechanism to deconstruct and / or rebuild oneself, regardless of the rules and the established order.

Why do you defend the anarchism and communism ideas?

I define myself as anarcho-communist because I grew up in a coco family that with the political, economic and ecological goals evolving by the time, realized that we had to leave the productivism and growth at any price, which communism did. Communism distributes wealth better, leads workers to organize themselves and help each other, also it promotes democratic participation but the state is very present and the legal order seems very important. Suddenly, I found in anarchism and more recently in certain ecological movements, anti-growth zadistes (movement linked to ZAD or zones à défendre, rural and natural areas occupied in protest to a project that threaten them), etc. the encouragement communism lacked to make me dream again.

Thus, self-management, decrease, but pooling the means of production, solidarity and participation. All, each one their way, the to the group life (working the land but also the arts, science, technology, care, sharing ... No business is worth less than another, everyone is invited to practice all that please him!).

And how important is sex for you?

Sex is one of those, interesting, creative, simple, free, infinite satisfying activities. It is also a place where you can easily cross the moral, the political and the rules thus being one of the favorite themes of these three fields of thought ... I love the idea that for centuries religious, politicians and moralists have tried to govern our sexuality without ever quite get it! This practice represents for me the basis of a revolution for the same reason.

Are you afraid of your instincts?

We should define "instinct" because if we talk about women's intuition or maternal instinct, animal instinct, as if my actions were determined by ancient biological reflexes and not by culture and the conditions I have lived from the education of my parents, or instinct education at school and various other means, then I rejected the idea of instinct. Now if we talk about the artistic instinct, universal intuition, inexplicable creative breath, yes, then I say ok I’m not afraid of them, on the contrary, I look for them.

You talk about yourself as a nymphomaniac and exhibitionist.

I do not think at all I am a nymphomaniac, I do not know where you read that but I would not define myself this way. I don’t think on fucking more often than most people my age, sincerely I’m in couple, non-exclusive for sure, but that does not mean I fuck all day. See it many times a day, no. Exhibit it, I do agree, because a minimum is needed to do my job well and get pleasure, that is true.

I read that definition from you in an interview a few years ago.

Do you think that Westerners have a natural attitude towards sex?

As for a "natural" relationship in sex, I am simply going to reject this question because I find absurd to think sex in a nature / culture duality. What is natural? What it is not? Actually, it never minds.

You work the Shibari and Kinbaku performance. In Western countries we know the word bondage, but I think they are different concepts. What is it shibari / kinbaku?

Shibari is the traditional Japanese bondage, no more no less. No more difference than perhaps the cultural inspiration, a certain aesthetic, etc.

Misungui et Gorgone en rigger © Patrick Siboni

Where is the pleasure in pain?

Pain is a totally subjective concept because what causes it perhaps doesn’t hurt me and above all perhaps what hurts me in a context, in another it doesn’t. The art of shibari is to take you beyond the limits of body and spirit, transcend their too normalized relation for good and bad, in the flesh and spirit, self and other.

Why do you think these practices are often rejected by society?

Overall everything that can liberate people is rejected by the Western democracy that keeps people in an artificial coma based on tele and universal suffrage, my balls!

Then of course there are tastes and colors, some people do not get hooked by them and it's nothing serious! What sport or artistic practice achieved unanimity? No one!


Franckenqueer by Bukow Lik© OmBilik

You create also characters for your performances and make an interesting artistic work creating new parts of your body playing with the androgynous figure.

Yes, I created Franckenqueer, a multi-genre and polisexual creature to explain the body like a puzzle whose pieces can be fit or separated for pleasure and not always in the same order. There is also the rage to live, that side a little primitive of a newborn, I really like that kind of emotion. But generally if I create performances, photos or visual art, is also to avoid talking about it too much so it’s better to come to see my shows and judge for yourself.

République / Filles du calvaire a film by Sarah de Vicomte

An interview by Juan Carlos Romero

Misungui website

misungui.tumblr.com