iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

'Only I can Name Me' 2021, Artists Elyssia Wilson Heti & Ria Hikori. Photographed by Apulu Pati Tyrell. Page design by Tanu Gago. ALTERATION: FAFSWAG Publication 2023.

Reposted by FAFSWAG

FAFSWAG: Disruption Vogue Ball Community-led, this is a creative platform for connectivity amongst pacific people navigating their unique identities within NZ's urban jungles. For White Night, these LGBTQ artists celebrated their lives at Disruption Vogue Ball. artspace-aotearoa.nz/exhibitions/...

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A conversation between artist Tanu Gago and filmmaker Raqi Syed on the occasion of Gago's participation in the exhibition Otherwise-image-worlds (2022).

@tanugago.bsky.social "My whole life I’ve been enamoured by animation. Because it stems from the imagination, it became a way to interpolate reality. I’ve been attracted to it since I was a child, watching cartoons in the nineties". Tanu Gago & Raqi Syed www.circuit.org.nz/writing-and-...

circuit.org.nz

EMBODIED REALITIES

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Blood Clots 2021 | Tanu Gago

FAFSWAG MANIFESTO: Diaspora 2021

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'Only I can Name Me' 2021, Artists Elyssia Wilson Heti & Ria Hikori. Photographed by Apulu Pati Tyrell. Page design by Tanu Gago. ALTERATION: FAFSWAG Publication 2023.

The politicians that support this should be banned from attending our art exhibitions. This is tragic... For people who have had to learn how to survive their own careers in an industry that has never had a stable pathway to sustainability, how will undermining Creative NZ affect the rest of us?

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Every resource we have access too is something we fought for. Not just for ourselves either but collectively for the grater good of all Queer Pasifika people. We smashed down doors so they could never be closed behind us. Now that we have a chance to make for our selves, we will, cause we earned it!

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Having gone through and archived a lot of our previously operated platforms for the sake of consolidation, but also safety. Recognising the problematic nature of documenting a community in constant states of transition has also meant doing our part to ensure dead identities remain private.

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Kenji @elementaleucology.com · 27/06/2026

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Reposted by FAFSWAG

Yeah, in case it's not been clear I am still muting/blocking ON SIGHT if I catch even a WHIFF of genAI content on your page. 😤 I do not care how pretty you or them parts are you are GOING TO THE SHADOW REALM!! 👹

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Reposted by FAFSWAG

Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @mayor.nyc.gov · 27/06/2026

When they said, "wear a suit," I just assumed… Find a public pool near you at nycgovparks.org.

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Bizzario @rbizzario.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

Stunning!

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FAFSWAG @fafswag.nz · 25/05/2026

Picking Crew by @tanugago.bsky.social will be screening Inside Out Festival: Toronto this week as part of the shorts programme - Beg For It. This collection of shorts explores the ups and downs of relationships while searching for a light at the end of the tunnel. insideout.ca/event/id/69d...

FAFSWAG @fafswag.nz · 25/05/2026

Go behind the scenes with FAFSWAG, the acclaimed Queer Indigenous Arts Collective! 🤩 We give you an exclusive look at our collaborative practice and the development of our powerful new work, FALE SĀ / SACRED HOUSE, for the Manchester International Festival 2025 (MIF25). youtu.be/QtwaUs16nok?...

youtu.be

FAFSWAG's Vision for MIF25 & Pacific Futurism

YouTube video by FAFSWAG

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FAFSWAG @fafswag.nz · 25/05/2026

The Whānau Wall activates Indigenous archival practice as a living archive, expanding and contracting, responding to each location with different stories. In the Moana, a whānau wall is a familiar fixture of the Pacific home.

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FAFSWAG @fafswag.nz · 27/03/2026

We're selling our DJI - RONIN 4D - 6K Cinema Camera yall. DM us if you'r in Auckland NZ and interested. SPECS: youtu.be/JMp176zy_fU?...

FAFSWAG @fafswag.nz · 27/03/2026

Thousands of "I just discovered your account on Instagram" emails over the years. We had to set up a specific spam filter for these fake partnership deals. We always laugh at the ones who will talk about our account and have no idea what we do LMFAO. Stay woke, cause scammers never sleep yall.

Radical Graffiti @radicalgraffiti.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

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"Wake Up, it's a Climate Emergency / Boycott Fossil Fuels" Stickers spotted outside the NZ Parliament in Wellington

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Reposted by FAFSWAG

BUGANZ83 @tanugago.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

YOU LOVE MY FRESH was a joint venture between Te Tuhi Centre for the Arts and Fresh Gallery Ōtara. Vacemaca Tavola, Pacific Arts Co-ordinator for Manukau City Council and Manager of Fresh Gallery Ōtara, curated the project with a view to form an ongoing relationship between the public galleries.

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Reposted by FAFSWAG

BUGANZ83 @tanugago.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

Performed with my sister for my first solo exhibition at Te Tuhi centre of arts in Pākuranga in 2009. Curated by Vacemaca Tavola. Shot by Dominic Fryer and installed by James Pinker.

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FAFSWAG @fafswag.nz · 15/03/2026

"The show begins, with most of the performers among us. It’s a genuinely and subtly masterful gesture. What follows is a tremendous mixture of dance, theatre and music." Sam Brooks | Pantograph Punch www.pantograph-punch.com/posts/review...

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FAFSWAG @fafswag.nz · 15/03/2026

A close-up, intense portrait of a performer known as Fang, crouched in a powerful, grounded position. They wear a black sleeveless top with a leather harness, fishnet leggings, and black boots. One hand holds the hilt of a sword resting across their shoulder, while the other arm is stretched out, gripping a clothing rack adorned with chains, a studded bag, and gold tinsel. Their skin glistens under dramatic teal and orange studio lighting, and they gaze directly at the camera with a piercing, defiant expression. The background is filled with textures of crumpled metallic foil and dark shadows.

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FAFSWAG @fafswag.nz · 11/03/2026

The collective is often referenced mostly as a Pacific collective, but people forget that also includes Māori. Here's some work from our Takatāpui artists Māhia Tekore and Jaimie Waititi. Eye's of Khaos by Māhia Tekore 2025. These decals on the outside of ArtsHOUSE in Melbourne Australia.

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FAFSWAG @fafswag.nz · 11/03/2026

In 2025, Pati Tyrell presented a work-inprogress sharing: SAUNIGA at AsiaTOPA (Triennial of Performing Arts) in Melbourne Australia The opening of SAUNIGA re-told the legendary Samoan Fāgogo (fable) of Leutogitūpa’itea, a princess unjustly sentenced to burn to death saved by a flock of Pe'a (bats).

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FAFSWAG @fafswag.nz · 15/10/2025

The Whanau Wall will be expanding in 2026 to 60 portraits from the collective for a show in Montreal Canada. This is our installation from Kassel, Germany 2022, Trinity Square in Toronto in 2023, and the Substation in Melbourne Australia in 2024. Enjoying the evolution as it travels.

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Reposted by FAFSWAG

FAFSWAG @fafswag.nz · 28/10/2025

This is our small studio space we've been in for almost two years now. Looking forward to shooting over the summer. Some booking info is coming soon for anyone looking to get their headshots done.

FAFSWAG @fafswag.nz · 04/11/2025

Reposted by FAFSWAG

Fale Sā / Sacred House - REVIEW "The artists interrogate how those who have been displaced may trace the notion of home through ancestral knowledge and practices, and how queer Indigenous futures may harness the feeling of it." corridor8.co.uk/art.../fafsw...

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FAFSWAG @fafswag.nz · 11/03/2026

Giving Birth To My Father - Tusiata Avia 'Rich, raw, deeply moving. This collection is a glorious celebration of Avia’s father’s life, a salute to his teachings. An embrace of family in the widest sense, even the mean aunties.' —Gina Cole, Kete Books teherengawakapress.co.nz/products/giv...

teherengawakapress.co.nz

Giving Birth to My Father

My father has been chipping himself down since he arrived here, he is half man and half vessel, readying for the journey to Hawaiki. Giving Birth to My Father is about learning to live with a loss tha...

FAFSWAG @fafswag.nz · 04/03/2026

DIASPORA (2021) the short film is now available on Youtube. Directed by Tanu Gago and produced by the FAFSWAG arts collective, this experimental film is a unique collaboration with the students of Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School in Wellington. youtu.be/48ap7dsgyU4?...

youtu.be

DIASPORA (2021) | A Short Film by Tanu Gago & FAFSWAG | Queer Indigenous Storytelling

YouTube video by FAFSWAG

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Saanè 🌺 🌊 @ladysaane.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

Ever wondered how the collective shares space and resources? Watch the team prepare for our 2025 commission with the Manchester International Arts Festival, in this short behind the scenes video. In the Studio with FAFSWAG Arts Collective. youtu.be/QtwaUs16nok?...

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Reposted by FAFSWAG

It’s so soothing to paint even for somatic benefits #gouache #wip

Sketch book page painted with blues and greens teal and evergreen

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SUPPORT ARTISTS — FAFSWAG

We often get asked by folks how they can support our work, so last year we opened a donation portal. This allows people to become direct patrons of our work. If you wanna support Queer Indigenous arts practitioners from the global south, please consider making a donation. X www.fafswag.nz/donations

fafswag.nz

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Distorted Dreamlands - The Warrior was also featured on the winter 2022 cover of Art News - New Zealand. There's a beautiful spread and artist profile of Pati Tyrell and his portrait photography. You can still pick up copies from their website. artnews.co.nz/artnews_wint...

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Our group exhibition TIDES is closing this month on the 27th. If you're in Oahu, Hawai'i please be sure to go check it out before it comes down. There are some incredible artists involved. Thanks to everyone that has been to see it so far. Much Alofa xx FAFSWAG ehcc.org/content/tide...

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SUPPORT ARTISTS — FAFSWAG

fafswag.nz

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