IN*TER*IS*LAND COLLECTIVE
FOREVER FRESH TALANOA SERIES
Episode Tasi/One: Roots & Routes
CW: this video references racism and medical racism
Episode Tasi/One entitled Roots & Routes (Diaspora Life) features Afatasi the Artist (ADOS-Sāmoan) based in San Francisco, USA and Momoe i manu ae ala atea’e Tasker (English / Samoan-Chinese) based in London, UK.
Recorded over Zoom, they take us on a journey through their lives growing up as "islanders" on other islands, what it's like to visit their cousins in Aotearoa/New Zealand, exploring their identity in their art practices and the joys (and pains lol) of having a Samoan mum.
We get to watch their talanoa ebb and flow as they also create a piece of work, across the moana (the other one! Atlantic) together.
Talanoa release: TE RĀKAUNUI / AKUA MAHINA (Full Moon - 28th February 2021)
Momoe i manu ae ala atea’e Tasker (English / Samoan-Chinese) is a multifaceted punk artist. Born in Taitoko/Levin, raised in London, her work reflects her experiences of the best and worst of both worlds. Momoe's work investigates the marginalisation of women of colour, feminism, abuse, decolonisation and cultural identity through hand block printing/paint/textiles and live performance as vocalist/shared songwriter in GUTTS (queer sax punx band) and drummer in IMMIGRANTI (qtbipoc punx band). Through creative activism Momoe aims to break silence and strengthen solidarity within overlooked communities.
Afatasi The Artist is an ADOS-Sāmoan, mixed-media conceptual artist and a native of San Francisco, California. Aesthetic themes of her artwork include both the Black and Sāmoan American experience, Afrofuturism, Afro-Pop art, and textile exploration. Her conceptual work, ‘BLACK SPACE’, is an ever-evolving Afro-futuristic exploration of the vastness of the global Black experience-from the cosmic to the quark, and every intersection in-between. Navigational mediums for this work include, mixed-media visual, audio, textile/fiber, music and photography.
Anne-Marie Te Whiu (Te Rarawa) is a poet, editor, weaver, festival director and currently works at Red Room Poetry. In 2019 she co-edited Solid Air, Australia and New Zealand Spoken Word anthology. She has edited Tony Birch’s forthcoming poetry collection Whisper Songs. Between 2015-2017 she was co-director of the Queensland Poetry Festival. Her poems and essays have appeared in Cordite, Te Whē Journal, Australian Poetry Journal, Sport, Rabbit and Ora Nui amongst others. Her woven piece, Ā-Ē-Ī-Ō-Ū is featured as part of In*ter*is*land Collective's 20:20 // VĀ:WĀ exhibition