​DJ, poet, and CULPA founder JOVENDELAPERLA has died aged 27

Madrid-based DJ, poet, and artist JOVENDELAPERLA has died following a years-long battle with cancer, Sónar Festival has confirmed.

JOVENDELAPERLA, real name Perla Zúñiga, passed away on Sunday, July 14, aged 27. Perla was diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma, a rare type of bone cancer, in 2016.

“Yesterday we lost JOVENDELAPERLA,” Barcelona’s Sónar Festival said in a statement on social media yesterday, July 15.

“DJ, poet, artist, founder of the collective and club night CULPA, MARICAS resident and more, Perla Zúñiga was an essential part of our scene, who endlessly fought to create safe spaces in nightlife for trans and non-binary people.”

Perla was known for championing trans and non-binary talent through their club night, CULPA, an event “focused on and created for the FLINTA and queer community” of Madrid.

“Thanks for deconstructing, not just club music, but narratives and forms of creative expression, and for, as you often said, opening 'the world's backstage' to us,” Sónar Festival wrote. “Thanks for your legacy and for making our scene a better place. We miss you, Perla.”

During their cancer treatment, Perla described chemotherapy as a “transition” that allowed them to “discover the malleability of gender expression”. In a 2022 interview with El País, they explained: “Chemotherapy, in the end, is a transition, a chemical process that alters the body.”

“I erased my identity, because the traits that I thought aesthetically defined my person were no longer there,” they said. “I liked to understand that as the beginning of my own metaphor.”

Their illness would become central to their work as both an artist and poet. Perla created a series of drawings in bed as they went through treatment, explaining: “Art is one of the driving forces in my life; it heals and guides me.”

Perla was also a resident DJ at MARICAS, a queer techno party based in Barcelona, and was known for their efforts in creating safe and inclusive spaces for the FLINTA community in Madrid.

Before their death, Perla was working on a space to give emotional and creative support to those with cancer. In 2022, they published a track on Bandcamp with all proceeds going to a charity supporting those suffering with Ewing's sarcoma.

Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Assistant Editor, follow her on Twitter