Yuki Kihara’s Paradise Camp has finally come home to the Independent State of Sāmoa, after debuting at the 59th Venice Biennale in 2022 and touring the Powerhouse Museum in 2023.
Paradise Camp interrogates colonial representations and nuances of Pacific people and cultures. It features a selection of new works alongside a central suite of twelve photographs that recast and ‘upcycle’ paintings believed to have been inspired by Sāmoa by French post-impressionist painter Paul Gauguin (1848 – 1903). These photographs feature Fa’afafine and Fa’atama models—a third gender community unique to Sāmoan culture who also make up part of the cast and crew of close to one hundred people behind the series.
The tableau of photographs was taken against Sāmoa’s tropical lushness on locations including rural villages, churches, plantations and heritage sites in Upolu Island in Sāmoa; and carries important messaging over global environmental concerns.
Alex Su’a, a Sāmoa-based lawyer and the president of the Sāmoa Fa’afafine Association who saw the Paradise Camp exhibition at the 59th Venice Biennale says, “I was very impressed and moved by the exhibition which placed Sāmoa on the global map. It’s an exhibition that all Sāmoans—regardless whether you’re a Fa’afafine or not—should be proud of. I’m excited for the homecoming of the ‘Paradise Camp’ exhibition to Sāmoa.”
The exhibition opened on 1 June at the Saletoga Sands Resort and Spa in Upolu Island to coincide with Sāmoa’s 62nd Independence celebration and will be on view until 31 January 2025—overlapping with major events in Sāmoa including the Teuila festival (September 2024); the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (October 2024) attended by King Charles III; and Fa’afafine Week including the Annual Miss Sāmoa Fa’afafine Beaty Pageant (December 2024).
The touring of the “Paradise Camp” exhibition in Sāmoa is made possible with major funding from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Government of New Zealand with additional support from the Sāmoa Tourism Authority; Digicel Sāmoa; The Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa; Fiji Airways; Sāmoa Fa’afafine Association and Saletoga Sands Resort and Spa.
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