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‘What is sacred to you?’ This transgender Chicana artist invites guests to confess at Riverside Museum of Art

Inside the Universalist Unitarian Church of Riverside, a line of masked people filed into the red-lighted chapel, one by one, to take part in the rite of confession.

The private booth was framed in flowers, and rather than a priest listening inside, it was a microphone recording their confessions, to be played at an upcoming art exhibition. The brick triangle-roofed church that held the booth has stood since opening in 1892; that night, it was the site of a masquerade, or as Riverside artist Perry Picasshoe called it, the “Masqueerade.”

Picasshoe, whose real name is Neveah Marquez, hosted the event, which had an entirely LGBTQ+ guest list and one requirement: Bring a mask, whatever that looks like to you.

Marquez, a 26-year-old transgender woman robed entirely in red, stood at the pews and danced to the experimental electronic DJ sets and drag performances as guests entered in masks that ranged from papier-mâché deer antlers to collaged photos of eyes and lips.

The event came as a celebration ahead of the Riverside native’s first solo exhibition, “SagradX,” which will open Saturday at Riverside Art Museum and remain through Jan. 31.

The recorded confessions, layered over one another until they become an unintelligible cacophony, represent just one piece of the 25 paintings, photographs and interactive displays in the exhibition. The show explores the meaning of “sacred” as Marquez documents her most private places and experiences, and asks viewers to consider what they hold sacred.

The exhibition, she says, began with heartbreak.

Neveah Marquez (Perry Picasshoe), 26, stands inside the Riverside Art Museum where her exhibition SagradX will be held.

Neveah Marquez (Perry Picasshoe), 26, sits inside the Riverside Art Museum.

(Carlin Stiehl / For De Los)

“The first time I started thinking about sacredness … was when my ex-partner brought somebody into our bed,” said Marquez.

“I was crying, distraught, and drove over to these hills over Lake Mathews [in Riverside] and I realized: The bedroom was sacred to me. That’s why it hurt so much. And I started thinking, if it wasn’t sacred to them, how do we decide what is sacred to each of us?”

The very headboard of that bed sits in the exhibition; on it, Marquez painted fairy-tale creatures representing the lovers gallivanting across the woods.

While Marquez’s experience with betrayal sparked the idea, the exhibition explores sanctity in many different scenarios: In one, the artist plays with the concept of the digital safe space by inviting guests to look through her phone as she is tied on a handmade iron-wrought cross. Inside the exhibition space, she uses a small painter’s brush to slowly paint the white walls red over the course of the show.

In curating the exhibition, Marquez began to look inward, painting and photographing herself in ways she never had before: through the lens of femininity. She lived the previous 26 years of her life as a man, growing up religious to the point that she once considered becoming a priest. The paintings serve as portals into a part of her that she long held inside.

“I describe it like having blurry vision your whole life and not realizing how clearly you can see, until you put glasses on,” Marquez said. “That’s how painting myself as a woman felt.”

Neveah Marquez (Perry Picasshoe), 26, stands inside the Riverside Art Museum where her exhibition SagradX will be held.

Neveah Marquez (Perry Picasshoe) considers what is sacred.

(Carlin Stiehl / For De Los)

Though she initially identified with her male birth name, the more she painted herself in Venus-like, feminine poses and with longer hair, her understanding of her identity shifted. Illuminated by her signature scarlet red clothing and tastefully shrouded in sheets, the soft expression on her face was inspired by Raphael’s “La Fornarina.”

“I wasn’t thinking much of it in the moment, but as I kept painting these portraits, I was thinking a lot about myself and thinking about gender and my identity,” Marquez said. “Through my art process, I realized: ‘Maybe I would be a pretty woman.’ That’s what scared me the most from transitioning, was not feeling like I would be beautiful enough.”

In “SagradX,” Marquez’s body is documented vulnerably; easing into her own identity becoming a painfully honest artistic process, which the audience is now invited to watch.

“I feel like I don’t paint very often because when I do, it’s just so emotionally intense. Like when Olivia Rodrigo wrote that she’s scared of her guitar because she couldn’t lie to it, that’s how I feel about painting,” Marquez said. “I can’t lie to my painting.”

Neveah Marquez (Perry Picasshoe), 26, stands inside the Riverside Art Museum where her exhibition SagradX will be held.

Neveah Marquez (Perry Picasshoe) wears long, flowing red clothes.

(Carlin Stiehl / For De Los)

Aside from her self-portraits, Marquez includes photographs of her ice blocks project, in which she placed 25-pound blocks where immigration enforcement raids took place in the Inland Empire last year. These were once safe places that she says have been “desecrated with fear.”

Marquez’s personal journal, which documented her inner joys and struggles over the last year, is also open on a table in the exhibition for guests to read through, draw over, or tear. For Marquez, “SagradX” was the catalyst to “let everything out.”

“If the show is about vulnerability, I need to practice that for myself as well. Otherwise, you would see in the work that there’s a blockage, you can sense when artists aren’t fully honest,” Marquez said. “I want people to question, ‘What is sacred to you?’ If I give you access to something sacred to me, what will you do with that?”



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World’s biggest music festival that you won’t have heard of with 3.75MILLION guests

EVER wanted to head to a music festival abroad? Well, how about heading to the world’s biggest where most concerts are free?

Found in the capital of Morocco – Rabat – Mawazine isn’t your usual festival.

Mawazine Festival is the largest in the world Credit: AP:Associated Press
It takes place each year in Rabat, Morocco Credit: Getty

Instead of lasting the normal three-days, Mawazine goes on for nine days in total.

The festival takes place each June and its attendance always breaks records with 3.75million people visiting in 2025 – making it the largest music festival in the world by attendance.

As for whats on at the festival, around 90 per cent of the concerts are free to attend.

You can expect Moroccan and Arab artists as well as global headliners.

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There are a seven stages in total including OLM Souissi, which is the main stage where international stars such as Rihanna, Beyoncé, Shakira, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Justin Timberlake and Maroon 5 have all performed.

You could then go to the Nahda Stage, which is dedicated to Arabic and Oriental music.

And over at Chellah, you’ll find a historic Roman site used for calm with acoustic music.

The festival isn’t just music either – you can expect art exhibitions, workshops and film screenings.

The festival spans nine days with most of the concerts being free Credit: Getty

If you want to head to the festival, make sure to book your hotel well ahead.

The city of Rabat is transformed for the nine days as well, with cafes and shops open later.

The city is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site meaning there is plenty to explore including a huge medina, Hassan Tower and Kasbah of the Oudayas – a historic fortress with sea views.

Return flights from the UK to Rabat cost as little as £125 in June.



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Four in a Bed star speechless over guest’s ‘rude’ comment about size

The B&B owners faced a fiery clash as tensions mounted on payment day and one guest commented on another’s appearance.

Guests on Four in a Bed faced a fiery clash after comments were made about one contestant’s appearance.

The Channel 4 programme returned with a series of repeat episodes on Saturday, August 22, which saw tensions rise between Lancashire couple, Stu and Ali, and their competitors.

On payment day, The Dog Inn owners discovered they’d been underpaid by a total of £27.90, after hearing feedback about dirty dishcloths and a lack of a hairdryer.

“It didn’t surprise us, but still, it is upsetting when you get underpaid,” Stu admitted at one point, while their competitors maintained that the standards of cleanliness they discovered were “unacceptable”.

Things took a turn for the worse however when Stu and Ali faced their turn to deliver feedback, reports Lancs Live. Earlier in the week of filming, they’d stayed at Julie and Sarah’s property in the Lake District, Ullswater View.

And while other guests were impressed, Stu and Ali weren’t too happy. In the property, they discovered a bath robe didn’t fit Stu, as he quipped at the time: “One size does not fit all.”

And they had another complaint over the bedding, claiming the single beds put together to form a double were “useless”. “It’s just wrong, isn’t it?” Stu said, as Ali claimed “it took away the romance and intimacy”.

Reading their complaints, Julie and Sarah had fumed: “Stu and Ali’s comments were really stupid, and a bit of an insult.”

They then clashed with the Lancashire couple over the dressing gown situation, as Stu explained: “It’s super nice that you provide that for people, but it is just large, XL, so if you do get fat people like me coming in, you don’t provide for them. So I had to put both of them on to cover myself. So if your guests are of a larger size, maybe you say, would you like me to replace the dressing gown?”

Julie at first replied: “To be fair, we don’t get a lot of big people because it is very outdoorsy,” before Stu said: “Big people can walk outdoors.”

“Well they don’t tend to walk up fells,” Julie hit back, leaving Ali and Stu speechless. She went on: “I think you’re then pointing it out, and if somebody is sensitive to the fact that they’re big, I think they might be offended.”

Ali said: “You just said fat people can’t go up hills.” As Julie claimed the dressing gowns are one size, Stu said: “But everybody isn’t are they? Enough said.”

“It could have got quite heated,” Julie later admitted, while Ali told cameras: “To say that normally people of a larger size don’t come here because there’s walking…” Stu added: “Bit rude, wasn’t it?”

Four in a Bed is available to watch on Channel 4.

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Major theme park REOPENS to guests

A drone view of Chessington World of Adventures Resort shows empty grounds and closed gates due to a water outage.

CHESSINGTON has reopened to guests – after being forced to cancel all tickets yesterday at the last minute.

The UK theme park announced just an hour into its opening that it would be closing, after a Thames Water outage in the area.

Chessington World of Adventures Resort has reopened Credit: Reuters
The park was forced to close yesterday, just an hour after opening Credit: Darren Fletcher

Due to this, the theme park wasn’t able to reopen.

In a statement issues yesterday, Chessington said: “Thank you to our guests for your patience and understanding”.

Anyone who had tickets yesterday is covered under the Return Promise.

This allows anyone affected to go back to the park at a later date, free of charge.

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However, anyone who wants a refund will have to contact the park directly.

Many families were left fuming yesterday, with many paying for train tickets and hotels as well.

One dad called it “utter shambles” as many were forced to wait outside of the gate, while another said they had spent “hundreds on an overnight stay and fast passes”.

Anyone who has travel insurance is likely to be covered, or if you paid with a credit card.

The outage was caused by a water shortage, Thames Water confirmed Credit: Reuters
Anyone who had tickets can return another day Credit: Darren Fletcher

Under Section 75, any purchases made on a credit card between £100 and £30,000 are covered, which includes holiday cancellations.

A spokesperson told The Sun yesterday: “Following confirmation from Thames Water that water supply to the local area has been restored after a burst pipe, Chessington World of Adventures Resort will reopen tomorrow as normal.”

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