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.

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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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While it's important to us to hold an archive of our community and it's growth over the past two decades. This should never come at the cost of privacy and self determination. If at any time we get this wrong. We expect that you our Queer Pasifika community will let us know and hold us accountable.

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We will only ever publish images that uphold the integrity of our community. Sharing only that which has been signed off by the people the work represents. This included current third party archives in the public domain that remain ethical and community approved.

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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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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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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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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's Vision for MIF25 & Pacific Futurism

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

YouTube video by FAFSWAG

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Through it, we recontextualize our cultural experiences by centering our own narratives, bodies, and worldviews. FAFSWAG Arts Collective Falencie Filipo, Tanu Gago, Tapuaki Helu, Nahora Ioane, Moe Laga-Toleafoa, Māhia Te Kore, Tim Swann, Pati Tyrell, Jaimie Waititi, Elyssia Wilson-Heti

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The Whānau Wall serves as a vital waypoint for FAFSWAG’s own visual and oral histories. It offers a sense of continuity to Queer communities often disconnected by biology or physiology, grounding the global Queer Indigenous diaspora displaced by migration and modernity.

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This gaze, rooted in centuries of unauthorized anthropological study across the Moana, exoticizes our bodies and creates an emotional distance from our ancestry.

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We originally conceived the wall as an intervention to the organizing principles of contemporary gallery spaces, which historically decontextualize Indigenous bodies to center the colonial gaze.

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As an installation, it evokes the cultural connective tissue linking contemporary Queer Indigenous identities to our celestial ancestors, material traditions, and familial narratives. The Whānau Wall literally translates in Te Reo Māori as ‘Family-Wall'.

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FAFSWAG @fafswag.nz · 27/03/2026

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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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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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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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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"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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A powerful, high-fashion portrait of a person with long, vibrant red hair sitting in a dimly lit studio. They are wearing a black lattice-style bodysuit with red accents, red heels, and holding a silver sword that rests on the floor. Their leg features a large, intricate dark tattoo. The background is a theatrical backstage setting with clothing racks, leather jackets, and metallic fabrics, all illuminated by dramatic orange and teal lighting that creates a bold, cinematic atmosphere.

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A dynamic, low-angle portrait of a performer in a crouched, powerful pose within a theatrical studio. They are wearing a dark mesh top, black shorts, high-heeled boots, and a blue cap with "SWAT" printed on it. They hold a long wooden staff diagonally across their body with intense focus. The lighting is cinematic, featuring sharp golden highlights on their skin and deep blue shadows. In the background, clothing racks and metallic gold and blue foils are illuminated by a bright yellow studio light, creating a high-energy, industrial-glamour aesthetic.

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A striking portrait of a performer with curly hair seated in a dramatic, athletic pose. They are wearing a red sports top with a black leather harness, a studded collar, black hand wraps, and a dark skirt. Their head is tilted back in a moment of intense expression. The setting is a backstage studio with clothing racks and shimmering metallic fabrics. Bold orange light glows from behind a studio light panel, casting deep shadows and highlighting the performer’s muscular physique in a moody, high-contrast atmosphere.

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A dynamic portrait of a performer with dark, wet-look hair, posed powerfully in a seated wide stance. They are wearing a black lace crop top, denim shorts with a studded belt, and knee-high black socks. They hold a vibrant red ribbon or fabric tautly between their hands across their shoulders. The scene is bathed in a moody palette of deep blue and electric pink neon light. Behind them, a rack of leather jackets and shimmering silver drapes ground the image in a gritty, high-glamour theatrical setting.

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A striking, high-contrast portrait of Jaycee Tanuvasa in a theatrical studio setting. She is posed dynamically, leaning back with one arm raised to her head, wearing a black bra with harness detailing, black high-waisted briefs, and platform boots. Her skin is illuminated by a dramatic mix of hot pink and deep teal light. She is surrounded by the "house" of the performance: clothing racks filled with leather jackets to the left, and shimmering metallic teal and silver fabrics draped behind her. A warm yellow studio light glows in the background, creating a bold, cinematic atmosphere.

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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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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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The story of Leutogitupa’itea and the Pe'a (flying fox) was one of 7 pieces dedicated to the exploration of animals within Samoan lore and oral traditions, told through regalia, ritual, chant and Siva Samoa (dance) Learn more about Samoan Mythology & the Princess saved by bats tinyurl.com/dn9tse47

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The work was then further developed for another three months before having it's world premier at Manchester International Festival MIF25, at HOME theatre. Opening to a sold out season the work saw the final iterations of costume, lighting and sound design come together in a live cultural ceremony.

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FAFSWAG @fafswag.nz · 15/10/2025

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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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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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

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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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Giving Birth to My Father

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

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...