Tanu Gago
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Tanu Gago is a Samoan interdisciplinary artist, filmmaker, and curator based in Auckland, New Zealand. He is also co-founder of arts collective FAFSWAG. He is best known for his work that explores intersections of Pacific queer and gender identities, as well as themes of cultural heritage and colonization. Gago's work has been shown in various exhibitions and festivals both nationally and internationally, including the Auckland Arts Festival, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney, and the Venice Biennale. Throughout his career, Gago has received numerous awards and grants, including the Creative New Zealand Arts Pasifika Award in 2017 and the Arts Foundation Laureate Award in 2020. He received a New Zealand Queens Birthday honour in 2019 for services to art and the
LGBTIQ+ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The group is ...
community.


Biography

Gago was born in 1983 in
Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...
, migrated to New Zealand in 1984 and grew up in
Manukau City Manukau City was a territorial authority district in Auckland, New Zealand, that was governed by the Manukau City Council. The area is also referred to as "South Auckland", although this term never possessed official recognition and does not ...
,
Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
,
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
. He spent most of his childhood on the beach, riding his bicycle through the village, and making
tapa cloth Tapa cloth (or simply ''tapa'') is a barkcloth made in the islands of the Pacific Ocean, primarily in Tonga, Samoa and Fiji, but as far afield as Niue, Cook Islands, Futuna, Solomon Islands, Java, New Zealand, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Ha ...
with his aunt. He attended different schools, including Saint Joseph's Boys in
Apia Apia () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Samoa. It is located on the central north coast of Upolu, Samoa's second-largest island. Apia falls within the political district (''itūmālō'') of Tuamasaga. The Apia Urban A ...
, Samoa, De La Salle College in South Auckland, Apifo'ou in
Tongatapu Tongatapu is the main island of Tonga and the site of its capital, Nukuʻalofa, Nukualofa. It is located in Tonga's southern island group, to which it gives its name, and is the country's most populous island, with 74,611 residents (2016), 70.5% o ...
, and Māngere College in New Zealand. He has a Bachelor of Arts in performing arts with a major in writing and directing for screen from
Unitec Institute of Technology Unitec ( Māori: Te Whare Wānanga o Wairaka) is the largest institute of technology in Auckland, New Zealand. 16,844 students study programmes from certificate to postgraduate degree level (levels 1 to 9) across a range of subjects. The main c ...
, Auckland. Gago's artistic journey began after graduating from film school at United in 2010, when his friend and independent Pacific curator, Ema Tavola, curated his first solo exhibition entitled YOU LOVE MY FRESH (YLMF) at Te Tuhi Centre for the Arts, as part of Manukau Festival of Arts. The exhibition was a synchronised, panoramic, three-channel video installation that explored masculinity from Gago's own cultural experience, sometimes built upon the individual experiences of other Pacific men he photographed or featured in his films. A photographic exhibition of Gago's called ''Avanoa o Tama'' (2012) had as the subject Polynesian men and explored notions of gender and sexuality. This exhibition was presented at Centre of Contemporary Art Toi Moroki (CoCA). He utilizes Moving Image, Photography, and documentary as ideological agents of power and control. FAFSWAG is a collective that pioneer
Ballroom culture The Ballroom scene (also known as the Ballroom community, Ballroom culture, or just Ballroom) is an African-American and Latino underground LGBTQ+ subculture. The scene traces its origins to the drag balls of the mid-19th century United States ...
in New Zealand, and exhibit around the world including
Centre Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the (), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English and colloquially as Beaubourg, is a building complex in Paris, France. It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture by the architectural team of ...
in Paris, France,
Rotterdam International Film Festival International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) is an annual film festival held at the end of January in various locations in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, focused on independent and experimental films. The inaugural festival took place in June 1972, ...
and ImagineNATIVE, Toronto, Canada. FAFSWAG represented New Zealand at the 22nd
Biennale of Sydney The Biennale of Sydney is an international festival of contemporary art, held every two years in Sydney, Australia. It is a large and well-attended contemporary visual arts event in the country. Alongside the Venice and São Paulo biennales and ...
. FAFSWAG began in 2013, by Tanu Gago and Pati Solomona Tyrell. Following Tanu's successful solo exhibition Avanoa O Tama, which brought together individuals from
South Auckland South Auckland ( or ) is one of the major geographical regions of Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand. The area is south of the Auckland isthmus, and on the eastern shores of the Manukau Harbour. The area has been populated by Tāmaki M ...
to participate in staged images that Tanu directed and produced. The collective has since become a key figure in the growing
Ballroom A ballroom or ballhall is a large room inside a building, the primary purpose of which is holding large formal parties called ''balls''. Traditionally, most balls were held in private residences; many mansions and palaces, especially histori ...
Aotearoa community. Tanu is the director of FAFSWAGVogue.com, an interactive documentary about ball culture in Auckland. He has several screenplays in development and received funding for a short film Picking Crew. In 2022, Gago and Jermaine Dean launched their sculptural AR project entitled ATUA at the Sundance International Film Festival, along with FAFSWAG represented Aotearoa at Documenta Fifteen with ''Apparatus'' (2018). In 2019, Gago presented an exhibition titled "Savage In the Garden" at The Physics Room in Christchurch, featuring a series of images and audio recordings that explore queerness as a site for exploration and open social discussion. The exhibition was developed during Gago's time as the Pacific Artist in residence at the Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies at the University of Canterbury. Gago's work challenges how Pacific women are represented in the media and advertising images, aiming to move away from cultural stereotypes. He hopes that his work will create a point of reference for future generations and reflection of the politics of identity, body and gender, all through disruption. He works at the intersections of film, Queer activism, moving image, animation, and AR interactivity, with a focus on building restorative narratives and creating a place of standing for Queer Indigenous Moana artists and audiences. In 2014 Gago received the Auckland Festival of Photography Annual Commission. His artistic practice is:
the intersections of film, digital arts, animation, and interactive technologies, with an interest in building restorative narratives of queer Indigenous Moana experiences. (McCahon House Trust)
In 2018 Gago was the artist in residence at the
Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies The Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies (MBC) is a research centre on Pacific Studies within the University of Canterbury. It was founded in 1988 from a bequest of Professor John Macmillan Brown. Their mission statement is:To promote and a ...
at the
University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury (UC; ; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was founded in 1873 as Canterbur ...
. In 2019 he was the Pacific community engagement coordinator for the
New Zealand AIDS Foundation Burnett Foundation Aotearoa (formerly the New Zealand AIDS Foundation (NZAF)) is New Zealand’s national HIV prevention and healthcare organisation. Its funding is derived from grants, donations and the Ministry of Health. Burnett Foundation ...
where he established the Love Life Fono Charitable Trust Board to support the Pacific LGBTIQ+ community. Over May to August in 2022 Gago was the artist-in-resident at McCahon House.
Auckland Art Gallery Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki is the principal public gallery in Auckland, New Zealand. It has the most extensive collection of national and international art in New Zealand and frequently hosts travelling international exhibitions. Set be ...
hold art of Gago's in their collection, and he has been part of the Auckland Council’s Pacific Arts and Culture Programme Board.


Awards

In 2019 Gago was awarded a member of the
New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant (document), royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Monarchy of New Zealand, Queen of New Zealand, "for th ...
for services to art and the
LGBTIQ+ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The group is ...
community. In 2020 he received the Contemporary Pacific Artist award at the
Creative New Zealand The Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa (Creative New Zealand) is the national arts development agency of the New Zealand government established in 1963. It invests in artists and arts organisations, offering capability building programmes a ...
Arts Pasifika Awards The Arts Pasifika Awards celebrate excellence in Pacific arts in New Zealand. The annual awards are administered by Creative New Zealand and are the only national awards for Pasifika artists across all artforms. The Arts Pasifika Awards includ ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gago, Tanu Living people New Zealand people of Samoan descent New Zealand artists Indigenous artists 1983 births