Club Bodega — Cezar Almeida

cézar almeida

Building a safe space for London’s Queer Latinx communitiy	November, 2024	London, UK
Club Bodega	Event label Hospitality Nightclub	Community building Creative Direction Social Media

The concept

Club Bodega is a welcoming space for the queer Latinx community to come together and celebrate the richness of Latin America culture.

This new monthly event takes place on the first Sunday of every month at The Carpet Shop in Peckham. With an atmosphere that reflects the warmth and friendliness of a typical Latin American house, guests have the opportunity to enjoy great music, dancing, and vibrant flavours.

The event starts with a unique brunch, featuring a menu designed to help guests unwind after a long weekend or recharge for the week ahead.

Taquiza, the resident restaurant at The Carpet Shop, is in charge of the dishes, exploring regional flavours from Latin American Cuisine. An exclusive selection of cocktails and special offers are also be available to bring London the tropical mood this winter.

Pics by Danilo Zocatelli

Creative process

I commissioned an emerging Brazilian artist to develop the branding for Club Bodega. When engaging with Latin American culture, exploring its richness with professionals who are well-versed in the subject felt appropriate.

Peu Lima is an art director, graphic artist, and independent publisher based in Rio de Janeiro. For this project, he collaborated with the talented illustrator Flora Próspero. Together, they captured the essence of the project: to represent Latin American diversity while moving away from common portrayals.

The branding concept is centred around the Wiphala flag, symbolising the numerous native tribes that have existed on the continent and continue to thrive despite the many attempts at extinction through colonisation. By merging this flag's vibrant, solid colours with shapes from the flags of various Latin American countries, a new set of flags was created to represent this strong and resilient continent.

For the promotional materials, the approach was to juxtapose iconic elements from different countries' cultures, showcasing the similarities in their differences and promoting a unified identity.

Some initial results

After five editions, the event has experienced steady growth and is organically building its community. The ambiance and menu are often highlighted as the main attractions, along with the promotional materials and social content.

As Club Bodega gains more visibility and public interest, the next step is to seek financial support through grants to invest in the team, infrastructure, and attractions.