KwaZulu-Natal born multi-disciplinary artist Desire Marea, born Buyani Duma, has cemented

themselves as a creative force to be reckoned with, especially as part of the South African queer performance collective FAKA they co-founded in 2015 with Fela Gucci.

FAKA performed at prestigious international music festivals such as CTM Festival (Germany), Roskilde (Denmark), Sonar Festival (Barcelona), Dark Mofo (Australia), amongst others. They have created special compositions in collaboration with American fashion brand Telfar that were staged at the Serpentine Pavilion (London) and New York Fashion Week and were commissioned the soundtrack for Italian fashion house Versace Spring Summer 2019 Menswear show.

More recently, Desire has embarked on an individual sonic journey. Desire's eponymous debut album came out January 2020 via Izimakade Records and saw wider release in 2021 via celebrated label Mute. 2021 also brought with it Nezimakade, a full band theater show, which called at rewire Festival in The Hague and the historical Volksbühne Theater in Berlin. 2022 tour brings Desire Marea to many reference stages and events across Europe, including Grace Jones’ Meltdown at Southbank Center in London.

Desire sees this individual venture as part of a process of healing. The album is an experimental inquiry into loss, displacement, and toxic manifestations of love in the contemporary world. It offers a stylistic departure from gqom – the South African electronic dance music subgenre born in the city of Durban of which FAKA were affiliates - into a territory where exploratory club music crosses with eerie choral elements, African folk details and soulful crooning.

With all their creative endeavors, Desire wishes to further contribute to the progression of Black Queer Art.