FAFSWAG
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FAFSWAG is an arts collective of Māori and Pacific LGBTQI+ artists and activists founded in Auckland, New Zealand in 2013. They explore and celebrate the unique identity of gender fluid Pacific people and LGBTQI+ communities in multi-disciplinary art forms. In 2020 FAFSWAG was awarded an Arts Laureate from the New Zealand Arts Foundation, and they also represented New Zealand at the Biennale of Sydney.
Background
Pati Solomona Tyrell and Tanu Gago formed the collective in 2013.[1] FAFSWAG create art and experiences in many different art forms with a strong online focus. Their goal is to 'celebrate Queer Brown bodies, contemporary Pacific arts, and cultural restoration'.[2] FAFSWAG are committed to social change; they challenge the lack of Indigenous LGBQI representation in creative industries and they articulate through their art projects the fluid gender spectrum in Pacific culture.[1][3]
Initially there were ten artists in the collective and by 2020 in addition to Tyrell and Gago FAFSWAG artists included: Jermaine Dean, Falencie Filipo, Tapuaki Helu, Elyssia Wilson Heti, Nahora Ioane, Hōhua Ropate Kurene, Moe Laga, Ilalio Loau, Tim Swann and James Waititi.[1]
One of the events FAFSWAG created is the FAFSWAG Aitu Ball. This one was run in 2018 but FAFSWAG balls were run over four years. At the core is the 'queer brown community' and the dance form vogue that originated in New York amongst marginalised African American queer communities. The FAFSWAG ball is an inclusive space that celebrates the unique culture of Māori and Pacific and also invites participation from others, "whether you're Asian or Indian or Pākehā: there’s a place for you in that space as well.”[4][5]
They were the 2017 Company in Residence at Basement Theatre, and were the winners of the 2017 Auckland Theatre Award for best overall body of work as a result.[6]
In 2020 a production Fa'aafa was scheduled in Berlin at HAU Hebbel am Ufer, (the production was cancelled). The name Fa'aafa is a Samoan term recognising a third gender, and the production combined poetry from Tusiata Avia, 'adornment of voguing', movement and sound.[7] For their Sydney Biennale project in 2020 FAFSWAG were required to re-vision it to be online due to Covid-19 restrictions. The project was named CODESWITCH: Relearn, Reimagine, Recreate – a FAFSWAG Manifesto for the 22nd Biennale of Sydney.[8] It was made up of a number of works including Protection (2020) by Nahora Ioane and Tanu Gago, created in response to the criminalisation of homosexuality in the Cook Islands; Whānau Ariki (2020) by Amy Lautogo, Ria Hiroki and Elyssia Wilson Heti, a 'game-like experience of dressing a woman' with the aim of decolonizing the bodies of the artists; and M A T A L A by artists Hohua Ropate Kurene and Tapuaki Helu, a series of photographs of men and flowers with themes of manhood, identity, sexuality and intimacy.[8]
Other collaborators FAFSWAG have made projects with include Apple, Air New Zealand, The Discovery Channel, Les Mills,[9] and Coco Solid. FAFSWAG have presented at the Auckland Art Gallery, the Auckland War Memorial Museum, Artspace Aotearoa, and the Centre of Contemporary Art, Christchurch.[10]
Exhibitions & works
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2018 – FAFSWAG Aitu Ball - Raynham Park Studio, Karangahape Road, Auckland[5]
2018/19 – FAFSWAGVOGUE.COM – an online interactive documentary about Auckland's dance vogue culture, directed by Tanu Gago, produced by Piki Films, and featured at the Centre Pompidou in Paris in 2018[11][5][12]
2019 – Where's My Room - 7min music video in collaboration with Neil and Liam Finn directed by Sam Kristofski and choreographed by Pati Solomona Tyrell[9]
2020 – CODESWITCH: Relearn, Reimagine, Recreate – a FAFSWAG Manifesto for the 22nd Biennale of Sydney - 22nd Sydney Biennale[3][13][8]
Awards
2017 – Auckland Theatre Award for best overall body of work[14]
2020 – Arts Foundation Laureate 2020 – Interdisciplinary Arts[1]
References
- ^ a b c d "FAFSWAG". Arts Foundation. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
- ^ "FAFSWAG". documenta fifteen. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
- ^ a b "FAFSWAG". Biennale of Sydney. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
- ^ Syfret, Wendy (21 June 2016). "fafswag is the auckland collective celebrating queer pacific islander culture". i-D. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
- ^ a b c Borrowdale, James. "Auckland's Vogue Balls Are a Church for Queers, And Everyone Else". Vice. VICE MEDIA GROUP. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
- ^ hr, Kate Prior Read Time: 1; Min, 1. "We're Here, We're Queer, We're Going Nowhere: FAFSWAG at The Basement in 2017". Pantograph Punch. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
{{cite web}}:|first2=has numeric name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Fafswag / Pati Solomona Tyrell". Hebbel am Ufer. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
- ^ a b c "CODESWITCH: Relearn, Reimagine, Recreate – a FAFSWAG Manifesto for the 22nd Biennale of Sydney". CIRCUIT Artist Film and Video Aotearoa New Zealand. 16 September 2020. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
- ^ a b "Neil & Liam Finn Share Video 'Where's My Room' Ft. FAFSWAG". UnderTheRadarNZ. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
- ^ "MAKING SPACE: FAFSWAG | CoCA Centre of Contemporary Art Toi Moroki". coca.org.nz. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
- ^ "FAFSWAG at Centre Pompidou | Contemporary Hum". contemporaryhum.com. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
- ^ "The groundbreaking documentary on FAF SWAG and Auckland's vogue scene". NZ Herald. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
- ^ "FAFSWAG". Biennale of Sydney. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
- ^ "FAFSWAG". Arts Foundation. Retrieved 15 October 2021.