Fatima AL QADIRI

  • Words Tom Faber
  • Photography Justin Chung
  • Styling Natasha Newman-Thomas

The shape shifting star of contemporary electronica.

  • Words Tom Faber
  • Photography Justin Chung
  • Styling Natasha Newman-Thomas
  • Hair & Makeup Nicole Wittman
  • Photo Assistant Dylan Pearce

It was a freezing night in February 2019, and onstage in Berlin as her alter ego, Shaneera, Fatima Al Qadiri was magnificently disdainful. Over the sound of her nimble, joyous club tracks—a mutant hybrid of UK grime music and the percussion of the Persian Gulf—she flicked her long black hair with venom. I wove through the heaving nightclub crowd to get a closer look. Her face was caked in layers of stage makeup but I could still make out a distinctly bored expression. It was an act, of course, but the audience adored the music and her haughty manner. They danced away all their tiredness and the cold.  As fully as she embodied the persona of Shaneera that night, the character was just one waypoint on a restless musical journey that threads avant-garde club music with a sharp stream ...

The full version of this story is only available for subscribers

Want to enjoy full access? Subscribe Now

Subscribe Discover unlimited access to Kinfolk

  • Four print issues of Kinfolk magazine per year, delivered to your door, with twelve-months’ access to the entire Kinfolk.com archive and all web exclusives.

  • Receive twelve-months of all access to the entire Kinfolk.com archive and all web exclusives.

Learn More

Already a Subscriber? Login

Your cart is empty

Your Cart (0)