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Daniel Hellmann

@daniel_hellmann

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artist | activist
@soyathecow 🌱✨

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Summer in Switzerland

Thanks friends, mountains and lakes for the magical moments 💕 taken in Switzerland by @daniel_hellmann

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a year ago

I’m honoured and happy to share that I received a Swiss Performing Arts Award 2025 — a recognition from the Federal Office of Culture for my work as @soyathecow. 🐄✨

My award speech moment will come later this fall. For now, I just want to celebrate by thanking my role models: all drag artists and activists who have used the art of drag to challenge norms, binaries, and oppressions. I’m forever inspired by you and grateful to walk in your footsteps. 💜

And to all the cows, bulls, and calves — who have resisted human violence for over 10,000 years while teaching us beauty, kindness, and forgiveness — this is for you.

The best way to celebrate is to use our voices to shatter all forms of supremacy.

#endmalesupremacy #endwhitesupremacy #endableism #endhumansupremacy #endpseciesism #endjewishsupremacy #endheterosexism #endcisnormativity #endagism #endclassism #endcolonialsupremacy taken in Zürich, Switzerland by @daniel_hellmann

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a year ago

I spent 12 wonderful days in São Miguel - Azores, working on a big project with my sister @rafabqueer. Our art residency includes encounters with dolphins, cows, sei whales, donkeys and also very sweet humans.

Rafa and I will be part of the biennial @walktalkazores in the fall.

Thank you @vagapdl @jesse____james @wallacapelobo @ant.branco @oluisbrum & Ruben taken in Ponta Delgada, Azores by @daniel_hellmann

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a year ago

Don’t judge a cow by her cover

In September, the anthology Animal Drag (ed. Nicola McCartney) was published by @manchester_university_press, featuring an essay by me, and my high-heeled hooves on the cover.

In Chapter 6, Love, Lipstick and Liberation, I write about queer activism, animal rights and the political power of a drag cow. From Soya’s origins to my interspecies drag wedding with Ferruccio at the @capraliberatutti sanctuary in Italy, I share experiences, challenges and highlights of a practice that merges queer aesthetics, political resistance and multispecies solidarity.

Thank you to the wonderful editor @nicola1mccartney for inviting me to contribute to this project, and to all my team members, friends and collaborators who make Soya’s existence possible. Special shoutout to @nagigianninnaigigan, who made the hooves on the cover. by @daniel_hellmann

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6 days ago

Leonie has been a friend of mine for many years. And she is one of the many wonderful animal personalities living at @hof_narr_in who you can meet at the upcoming @arten_festival

A harpist playing next to the horses, a dance performance about spiders, insect theater and so much more. 🐷🪩🐴💄🎭🕷️🪉🪰

It will be a magical weekend and as the artistic director behind the project who put a lot of love and care into this festival, I can only say: save the date and get your tickets. It will be unique and magical.

July 4 + 5, 20206
Hof Narr, Hinteregg (CH)
in partnership with @tanzhauszuerich @moin_moin_prod by @daniel_hellmann

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4 months ago

Voice For Cows With Daniel Hellmann aka "Soya The Cow"

In this powerful episode, Soja the Cow — the world’s first vegan drag cow and performance activist shares a bold and thought-provoking journey of challenging societal norms through creativity, courage, and compassion.

From confronting the “big cultural lie” around dairy to using art as a voice for the voiceless, this conversation uncovers truths most people never question.

This is not just a conversation — it’s a perspective shift.

💔 Hear the moment everything changed
🌱 Discover how creativity can spark activism
🐄 Understand the hidden reality behind dairy and motherhood
✨ Learn how one voice can challenge an entire system

This episode will make you question what you’ve been taught, feel deeply, and see the world — and animals — in a completely new light.

👉 You can also support the International Calf and Cow Mother’s Day 2026 by sharing your art, recipes, or hosting an event. Learn more at calfandcow.org.

💡 V-COP 25 is coming soon!
🔥 Get ready for powerful discussions, groundbreaking solutions, and inspiring voices leading the charge for a sustainable, plant-based future.

Register here:
https://climatehealers.org/v-cop

Watch full podcast at https://youtu.be/ED_lh6bAH8I

#Vegan #AnimalRights #DairyTruth #GoVegan #VeganActivism AnimalCruelty PlantBased by @daniel_hellmann

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6 months ago

a few days in paris with @gehhindurch , friends, mouthwatering vegan food, monumental queer art, a empowering conference, sunny days (is this the new december?) and many delicious surprises!

Merci @oliviaschenker @bruno.deruisseau pour l’accueil 🫶🏽 taken in Paris, France by @daniel_hellmann

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10 months ago

it is a big honour for me to be one of the winner of this 2025‘s @swissperformingartsawards

here is my acceptance speech. i wanted to pay tribute to my mom whose earrings I‘m wearing on stage, and to all animals experiencing human-made hell. you are the reason i do what i do. you give me courage, passion and heartache, and I promise that I will ALWAYS speak up for you and your liberation 💫

i had to shorten it a bit for instagram, so a special thanks goes out to my team, my family and my partner. without you this cow would not be who she is today 💞🐮

#veganforlife #veganartist #drag #performance #switzerland #awardshow #pride taken in Switzerland by @daniel_hellmann

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a year ago

Here the video made for the Swiss Performing Arts Award 🥰

Thank you all for your lovely messages of support.

xx taken in Zürich, Switzerland by @daniel_hellmann

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a year ago

Beautiful days with @rafabqueer, the Atlantic ocean, volcanic rocks, art, sunsets and late evening strolls through Ponta Delgada.

Thank you @walktalkazores by @daniel_hellmann

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a year ago

Which version of me do you prefer?

Comment below ⬇️

1 👱🏼
2 🐮 by @daniel_hellmann

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a year ago

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SCHWEIZER PREIS DARSTELLENDE KÜNSTE 2025 – Daniel Hellmann

Daniel Hellmann, 1985 in Zürich geboren, ist Tanz- und Theaterschaffender, Sänger Performancekünstler und Aktivist. Er studierte Philosophie in Zürich, klassischen Gesang an der Hochschule für Musik in Lausanne und Performance an der Hochschule der Künste Bern. Mit seiner Drag-Figur Soya the Cow verwischt er seit 2018 die Grenzen zwischen Mensch und Tier. In seinen interdisziplinären Kreationen hinterfragt Daniel Hellmann / Soya the Cow Körperbeziehungen, gesellschaftliche Normen und Machtverhältnisse an der Schnittstelle zwischen Sexualität, Klima, Menschen- und Tierrechten.

Im Jahr 2012 gründete Daniel Hellmann das Kollektiv 3art3 Company, mit dem er für das Stück «Requiem for a piece of meat» 2015 den June Johnson Dance Prize erhielt. 2015 kreierte er die Solo-Performance «Traumboy», eine autofiktionale Auseinandersetzung mit männlicher Sexarbeit.
2019 folgte das weibliche Pendant «Traumgirl». Sein Stück «Queere Tiere» (2024), bei dem er als Soya the Cow zusammen mit Coco Schwarz (Piano Prince) auftritt, ist Drag-Show und musikalisches Erzähltheater zugleich. Aktuell arbeitet Daniel Hellmann mit Rafa Bqueer am multimedialen Spektakel «De-Domestication», das im September 2025 im Tanzhaus Zürich Premiere feiert.

@daniel_hellmann
@soyathecow

Photos: @charlottekrieger
Animation: @adelinemollard by @daniel_hellmann

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a year ago