Page 53 - IB August 2024

Art Art

American Samoa, Australia, New Zealand, Hawai’i and Turtle The ‘Paradise Camp’ exhibition is a catalyst for visibility.
Island USA. “Additionally, it’s important that we reinstate our original
“In the context of the exhibition in Sāmoa, it’s a different gender matrix of Tane, Fafine, Fa’afafine and Fa’atama to
kind of conversation,” Kihara told Islands Business. rebuild the resilience of the Samoan people together, by first
The ‘Paradise Camp’ exhibition partly looks at the acknowledging Fa’afafine and Fa’atama’s invisible labour and
appropriation by Gauguin, who used photographs of Samoa contribution they make to their family, extended family, the
as the foundational reference development of his major village, the church, to the country of Samoa and across the
paintings, which portrayed the Tahitian and Marquesan diaspora.”
cultural way of life. She said that in a small way, ‘Paradise Camp’ has helped
Kihara saw Gauguin’s paintings at the Metropolitan Museum to assure locals and visitors alike, that despite its own
in New York for the very first time in 2008. challenges, Samoa continues to remain a country that strives
“When I looked at the paintings, it was quite uncanny for inclusion, diversity, equality and equity.
because when I saw the models and the landscape, it ‘Paradise Camp’ portrays a Fa’afafine and Fa’atama
looked very like the photographs from a New Zealand utopia, a paradise where people are no longer judged for
colonial photographer, Thomas Andrew, who had set up his their gender and sexuality while living in harmony with
photographic studio in Samoa in the early 1900s. nature.
“Out of curiosity, I compared paintings by Gauguin produced “The reason I needed to create this fictitious paradise
at the time in French Polynesia, to the photographs of Thomas because the world we are currently living in [is] opposite to
Andrew, and I actually found visual records that show that that,” said Kihara. “I’m saying that because of the impact of
Gauguin used photographs of Thomas Andrew taken in Samoa climate change on the indigenous third gender community,
as an inspiration to develop his paintings which he gave particularly the Fa’afafine community in Samoa. Climate
Tahitian and Marquesas titles to. change emphasises inequality amongst the genders.
“This was a form of appropriation, so what I’m doing with “While the Fa’afafine and Fa’atama community may
my photographic series is to reclaim the colonial narrative.” be culturally recognised, but because we are not legally
Kihara said it was important for her to bring ‘Paradise recognised, our experience with climate change is often not
Camp’ to Samoa because the core audience for exhibition was reflected in policies and legislations. And then what you find
the Fa’afafine and Fa’atama community. is that in the event of natural disasters, we are often left to
“I made ‘Paradise Camp’ to empower them, so it was fend for ourselves while we are expected to help everyone
important for me to bring it back to Samoa and also coincide else.”
with our Independence Day.” The ‘Paradise Camp’ exhibition has also toured
Kihara explains the four culturally recognised genders in internationally, first premiering at the 59th Venice Biennale in
Samoa. 2022. It subsequently toured the Powerhouse Museum, Gadigal
“Tane means cis gender man, Fafine means cis gender land, Sydney. The exhibition will be on view at the Saletoga
woman (cis gender is where their sex aligns with the Resort till January 2025.
gender),” says Kihara. “So, for example if you’re born male, The international reception to the exhibition has led to the
you grow up to be a boy and a man - and if you’re born growing momentum to see the return of ‘Paradise Camp’ to
female, you grow up to be a girl and a woman. And then there Samoa, where it all began.
are Fa’afafine and Fa’atama. Fa’afafine are those like me, “When ‘Paradise Camp’ premiered at the Venice Biennale,
assigned male at birth but express their gender in a feminine remember that in 2022, the world was coming out of COVID
way, and you also have Fa’atama - those that are assigned which is another form of a natural disaster which amplified
female at birth who express their gender in a masculine way. the inequalities around the world with regards to access
This all tied to the creation story of Samoa which talks about to healthcare and inequalities across gender, sexuality and
how the first human beings were gender transformers. In the race,” said Kihara.
early creation story of Samoa, the early humans were able to “So, within that global context, when ‘Paradise Camp’ was
change their gender.” premiered at the Venice Biennale, all these issues around
The ‘Paradise Camp’ exhibition opened in June, officiated gender, sexuality and race were experienced during the
by Deputy Prime Minister, Afioga Tuala Tevaga Iosefo Ponifasio, two-year lockdown and this was highlighted, in a way, in the
with support from the Samoa Fa’afafine Association patron ‘Paradise Camp’ exhibition. So as a result, the exhibition was
and Leader of the Opposition, Tuila’epa Sa’ilele Maleilegaoi. a critical success. We were reviewed on CNN, the Financial
Kihara said that for the gender minority in Sāmoa, visibility Times, Vogue magazine, you name it.”
is important, especially to decision makers in government.

Islands Business, August 2024 53