Junior Barros aka BIXA PRETTA, is a cultural producer, executive producer and Drag Queer performer based in Hamburg, Germany. Their journey began in 2001, when they started working as a Drag Queer performer. Born in Brazil, Junior spent the early years of their career between São Paulo and the Mediterranean, working as a cultural entertainer on international cruise ships for several years – an experience that took them across Northern Europe and shaped their relationship with interculturality, the stage and audiences.

Back on land, they coordinated social programmes in Brazil before settling in Lisbon, where they worked as an Executive Producer at Chapitô Circus Company. It was there that performing arts production became their profession: performances, theatre productions, corporate events and advertising campaigns, always combining technical rigour with artistic sensitivity.

In 2022, they moved to Hamburg, where they work as a freelancer, providing services for different projects and organisations. At Kampnagel Internationale Kulturfabrik – one of Europe’s leading independent performance venues – they worked as Production Manager for works by Nesterval and by Davi Pontes and Wallace Ferreira (*Repertório N.3*), as well as for the Kampnagel Summer Festival since 2024.

They have been a member of the Queereeoke collective since 2022, regularly performing with the group. Alongside this, they were Production Manager of the Queer B-Cademy Festival in 2023 and 2024, co-created the Festa Baile Femme in Hamburg with the House of Brownies collective from 2023 onwards, and work as tour manager and producer for the Lisbon-based duo Venga Venga.

In April 2026, they are Production Manager for the Liminalities and Transtonica festivals, both taking place at Kampnagel. Artistically known as **BIXA PRETTA**, Junior is multilingual – speaking Portuguese, Spanish, English, German and Italian – and moves with ease between stages, festivals and communities. Their work is grounded in a constant belief: that culture has transformative potential, and that spaces need to be claimed rather than inherited.