RuAfza (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist and drag performer born in India and based in Lenapehoking/Brooklyn. Her work explores the figure of the showgirl as a site of spectacle, labor, and survival under capitalism, drawing on her trans, desi, and immigrant identity and her collaborative worldmaking in nightlife spaces. Working across live performance, photography, sound, and installation, she uses glamour, humor, and camp excess to examine how bodies are marketed, disciplined, and desired.

She is a graduate of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, where she received two Bachelor’s degrees in New Media and Studio Art. Her work has been presented at La MaMa, The Flea Theater, and The New York Historical, and she was featured in PAPER’s NYC Theater Portfolio in 2024.




Education
2023 — BFA, Studio Art, School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, MA
2023 — BA, New Media and Society, Tufts University, MA




Selected Exhibitions & Performances
2026 — Playwright & Performer, show, girl (full-length solo work), Squirts, La MaMa Experimental Theater, NYC
2025 — Featured Artist, The New York Sari, The New York Historical, NYC
2025 — Featured Performer, Squirts, La MaMa Experimental Theater, NYC
2025 — Featured Performer and Creative strategist , Dragistan, Three Dollar Bill, NYC
2025 — Featured Performer, Made in Asia, Three Dollar Bill, NYC
2025 — Artist-in-Residence, Unrehearsed Residency, Nava Dance Theatre, San Francisco, CA
2024 — Featured Artist, Mrs Krishnan’s Afterparty, Paramount Theater, Boston, MA
2024 — Featured Artist, SAYI Conference, Yale University, New Haven, CT
2023 — Group Exhibition, Print and Paper Show, Tufts University Art Gallery, Boston, MA
2022 — Group Exhibition, If You Draw a _____ It Could Be the Ground, Tufts University Art Gallery, Boston, MA
2021 — Featured Artist, SAPAC Symposium, Medford, MA
2021 — Group Exhibition, Chaos in Movement, Tufts University Art Gallery, Boston, MA
2021 — Solo Exhibition, Why Are We So Incredibly Sad?, W. Van Alan Clark Jr. Library, Boston, MA


Talks, Panels & Guest Lectures
2026 — Guest Artist Lecture, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
2026 — Guest Artist Lecture & Performance, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA
2025 — Guest Artist Lecture & Performance, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA
2025 — Guest Artist Lecture & Performance, Williams College, Williamstown, MA
2024 — Guest Artist Lecture, Tufts University, Medford, MA
2024 — Panelist, SAYI Conference, Yale University, New Haven, CT
2023 — Guest Artist Lecture, Northeastern University, Boston, MA
2023 — Guest Artist Lecture, Tufts University, Medford, MA




Selected Press & Writing
Press Coverage

Writing (Selected)
  • “Linda Simpson, the Historian of Queer New York,” PAPER, 2024
  • “Untitle is Slowing Down Fashion with Kalamkari,” PAPER, 2022
  • “The Textile Artist Putting an Indian Punk Spin on Heirloom Craft,” PAPER, 2022

Photos (Selected) 



Collections
  • W. Van Alan Clark Jr. Library, Boston, MA
  • Tisch Library, Medford, MA
  • Ed Kinsella, Private Collection