FAFSWAG

Pati Solomona Tyrell and Tanu Gago formed the FAFSWAG arts collective in 2013. The collective grew from a photography project of Gago's that was a part of university course work.{{Cite book| publisher = Routledge| isbn = 978-0-429-50669-7| editor-first1 = Trudie |editor-last1 = Walters |editor-first2 = Allan Stewart |editor-last2 = Jepson | last1 = Mackley-Crump| first1 = Jared| last2 = Zemke| first2 = Kirsten| title = The FAFSWAG Ball: Event spaces, counter-marginal narratives and walking queer bodies into the centre| chapter = Marginalisation and Events| date = 2019}} 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".{{Cite web|title=FAFSWAG|url=https://documenta-fifteen.de/en/lumbung-members-artists/fafswag/|access-date=3 February 2022|website=documenta fifteen|language=en-US}}{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1386/qsmpc_00007_1| issn = 2055-5695| volume = 4| issue = 1| pages = 85–98| last1 = Zemke| first1 = Kirsten| last2 = Mackley-Crump| first2 = Jared| title = 'Sissy that walk': Reframing queer Pacific bodies through the FAFSWAG Ball| journal = Queer Studies in Media & Popular Culture| date = 2019| s2cid = 203416520}} FAFSWAG state they are committed to social change. The art projects of the collective focus on challenging the lack of Indigenous LGBQI representation in creative industries and the fluid gender spectrum in Pacific culture. The collective's name is a portmanteau between fa'afafine and swag.

Initially there were ten artists in the collective. By 2020 FAFSWAG artists numbered 12 including: Jermaine Dean, Falencie Filipo, Tapuaki Helu, Elyssia Wilson Heti, Nahora Ioane, Hōhua Ropate Kurene, Moe Laga, Ilalio Loau, Tim Swann and James Waititi in addition to the founders Tyrell and Gago.

The first FAFSWAG Aitu Ball was held in South Auckland in 2013, however from 2016 balls have been held in central Auckland. The FAFSWAG ball promotes the 'queer brown community' and the dance form vogue that originated in New York amongst marginalised African American queer communities. The ball is an inclusive space that celebrates the cultures of Māori and Pacific and invites participation from others, "whether you're Asian or Indian or Pākehā: there’s a place for you in that space as well.”{{Cite web|last=Syfret|first=Wendy|date=21 June 2016|title=fafswag is the auckland collective celebrating queer pacific islander culture|url=https://i-d.co/article/fafswag-is-the-auckland-collective-celebrating-queer-pacific-islander-culture/|access-date=15 October 2021|website=i-D|language=en}}{{Cite web|last=Borrowdale|first=James|title=Auckland's Vogue Balls Are a Church for Queers, And Everyone Else|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/aucklands-vogue-balls-are-a-church-for-queers-and-everyone-else/|access-date=15 October 2021|website=Vice|date=14 August 2018 |language=en}}

The collective was the 2017 Company in Residence at Basement Theatre, and were the winners of the 2017 Auckland Theatre Award for best overall body of work.{{Cite web|title=We're Here, We're Queer, We're Going Nowhere: FAFSWAG at The Basement in 2017|url=https://pantograph-punch.com/posts/fafswag-at-the-basement|first=Kate|last=Prior|date=21 November 2017|access-date=15 February 2022|website=The Pantograph Punch}} In 2018, FAFSWAG held a ball at the Auckland Art Gallery. In 2019, founder Tanu Gago was awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to art and the LGBTIQ+ community.

The artistic practice of the collective has been impacted by the COVID epidemic. In 2020 a production Fa'aafa was scheduled in Berlin at HAU Hebbel am Ufer before being cancelled due to the epidemic. 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.{{Cite web|title=Fafswag / Pati Solomona Tyrell|url=https://www.hebbel-am-ufer.de/en/programme/pdetail/fafswag-pati-solomona-tyrell-1/|access-date=3 February 2022|website=Hebbel am Ufer|language=en|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203042750/https://www.hebbel-am-ufer.de/en/programme/pdetail/fafswag-pati-solomona-tyrell-1/|url-status=dead}} For their Sydney Biennale project in 2020 FAFSWAG were required to re-vision their project as an online production due to COVID restrictions. The resulting project was named CODESWITCH: Relearn, Reimagine, Recreate – a FAFSWAG Manifesto for the 22nd Biennale of Sydney.{{Cite web|date=16 September 2020|first=Arpege|last=Taratoa|title=CODESWITCH: Relearn, Reimagine, Recreate – a FAFSWAG Manifesto for the 22nd Biennale of Sydney|url=https://www.circuit.org.nz/blog/codeswitch-relearn-reimagine-recreate-a-fafswag-manifesto-for-the-22nd-biennale-of-sydney|access-date=3 February 2022|website=CIRCUIT Artist Film and Video Aotearoa New Zealand|language=en|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203092656/https://www.circuit.org.nz/blog/codeswitch-relearn-reimagine-recreate-a-fafswag-manifesto-for-the-22nd-biennale-of-sydney|url-status=dead}} The production 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' aimed at 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.

FAFSWAG have collaborated with Liam Finn and Neil Finn on a music video,{{Cite news|title=Neil & Liam Finn Share Video 'Where's My Room' Ft. FAFSWAG|url=https://www.undertheradar.co.nz/news/15592/Neil--Liam-Finn-Share-Video-Wheres-My-Room-Ft-FAFSWAG.utr|access-date=15 October 2021|date=5 March 2019|newspaper=Undertheradarnz|language=en}} and have presented productions or exhibitions at the Auckland Art Gallery, the Auckland War Memorial Museum, Artspace Aotearoa, Māngere Arts Centre - Ngā Tohu o Uenuku,{{cite web |title=FAFSWAG Arts Collective marks 10-year anniversary: 'Our story on our terms' |url=https://pmn.co.nz/read/entertainment/fafswag-arts-collective-marks-10-year-anniversary-our-story-on-our-terms |website=Pacific Media Network |access-date=30 January 2024}} and the Centre of Contemporary Art, Christchurch.{{Cite web|title=MAKING SPACE: FAFSWAG {{!}} CoCA Centre of Contemporary Art Toi Moroki|url=https://coca.org.nz/exhibitions/makingspace_fafswag|access-date=15 October 2021|website=Centre of Contemporary Art}}

In 2022 FAFSWAG were invited to be part of documenta fifteen in Kassel, Germany.{{cite web |title=FAFSWAG |url=https://documenta-fifteen.de/en/lumbung-members-artists/fafswag/ |website=documenta fifteen |access-date=30 January 2024}} The lack of New Zealand press coverage of this event was discussed in research influencing the development of new arts policy in New Zealand.{{Cite web |title=New Mirrors – Strengthening arts and culture media for Aotearoa New Zealand. |url=https://creativenz.govt.nz/development-and-resources/research-and-reports/new-mirrors |access-date=2023-11-22 |website=creativenz.govt.nz |language=en}}

FAFSWAG is inspired by New York Ball culture. Founder Tanu Gago felt that queer spaces for Pasifika can act as a counter to traditional Pasifika voices in the community, which tend to be older, more conservative and more religious.

• 2013: Te Puke o Tara Community Centre, FAFSWAG's first vogue ball
• 2015: Studio One Toi Tū{{Cite web|date=7 August 2015|first=Jeremy|last=Olds|title=Fafswag: The artists telling queer Pacific stories|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/arts/70898666/fafswag-the-artists-telling-queer-pacific-stories|access-date=1 October 2021|website=Stuff|language=en}}
• 2016: Family Bar, Karangahape Road
• 2017: FAFSWAG became the company in residence at Basement Theatre
• 2017: Artspace Aotearoa{{Cite web|title=Artspace Aotearoa - FAFSWAG: Disruption Vogue Ball|url=https://artspace-aotearoa.nz/|access-date=2021-10-01|website=Artspace Aotearoa|language=en}}
• 2017: Making Space: FAFSWAG, COCA (Centre of Contemporary Art)
• 2018: Auckland Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira Late at the Museum event, Explicit Inclusion Identity.{{Cite web|title=LATE 2018: Explicit Inclusion Identity|url=https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/visit/whats-on/lates/explicit-inclusion-identity|access-date=15 February 2022|publisher=Auckland War Memorial Museum}}
• 2018: Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, documentary launch{{Cite web|title=FAFSWAG vogue ball|url=https://www.aucklandartgallery.com/whats-on/event/fafswag-vogue-ball|access-date=2021-10-01|website=Auckland Art Gallery|date=7 February 2018 |language=en}}
• 2018: FAFSWAG Aitu Ball Raynham Park Studio, Karangahape Road, Auckland
• 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{{Cite web|title=FAFSWAG at Centre Pompidou|url=https://contemporaryhum.com/calendar/fafswag-at-centre-pompidou?locations=paris|access-date=15 October 2021|website=Contemporary HUM|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=The groundbreaking documentary on FAF SWAG and Auckland's vogue scene|url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/the-groundbreaking-documentary-on-faf-swag-and-aucklands-vogue-scene/G7EZYDUXTGD7OQNJA22Z5RIVFE/|date=8 February 2018|access-date=15 October 2021|website=The New Zealand Herald|first=George|last=Fenwick|language=en-NZ}}
• 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
• 2020: CODESWITCH: Relearn, Reimagine, Recreate – a FAFSWAG Manifesto for the 22nd Biennale of Sydney, 22nd Sydney Biennale{{Cite web|title=FAFSWAG|url=https://www.biennaleofsydney.art/artists/fafswag/|access-date=15 October 2021|website=Biennale of Sydney}}{{Cite web|title=FAFSWAG|url=https://www.biennaleofsydney.art/participants/fafswag/|access-date=3 February 2022|website=Biennale of Sydney|language=en-AU}}
• 2020: Biennale of Sydney, representing New Zealand
• 2020: HAU Hebbel am Ufer, Berlin{{Cite web|title=Fafswag / Pati Solomona Tyrell|url=https://www.hebbel-am-ufer.de/programm/pdetail/fafswag-pati-solomona-tyrell/|access-date=2021-10-01|website=Hebbel am Ufer|language=de}}

• 2017: Auckland Theatre Award for best overall body of work
• 2020: Arts Foundation Laureate 2020 – Interdisciplinary Arts{{Cite web|title=FAFSWAG|url=https://www.thearts.co.nz/artists/fafswag|date=28 September 2020|access-date=31 January 2022|website=Arts Foundation|language=en-US}}

{{reflist}}

• [https://fafswagvogue.com Fafswagvogue.com]

{{Arts Foundation Laureate Award}}

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Category:2013 establishments in New Zealand

Category:New Zealand artist groups and collectives

Category:Arts organizations established in 2013

Category:Ball culture

Category:Fa'afafine

Category:LGBTQ and multiculturalism

Category:New Zealand LGBTQ artists

Category:LGBTQ arts organizations

Category:LGBTQ organisations based in New Zealand

Category:LGBTQ culture in Auckland

Category:Organisations based in Auckland

Category:Performance artist collectives

Category:Polynesian-New Zealand culture in Auckland

Category:Subcultures

Category:Transgender topics in Oceania