IN*TER*IS*LAND COLLECTIVE
FOREVER FRESH TALANOA SERIES
Episode Rua/Two: u ok hun?
CW: this video contains sexually explicit references
Episode Rua/Two entitled u ok hun? (love + lockdown + london) features Lyall Hakaraia and Isoa Tupua who are both part of our tagata Moana (Pacific/Oceanic peoples) and queer communities/scenes in London, UK.
Our second offering in this series (still recorded over Zoom) allows us to listen in on their discussion of queer spaces; their decline and erasure, as well as sharing their time as kids growing up in Fiji and Aotearoa. They compare their lives as part of the London diaspora, witnessing the bare minimum, gentrification and how to clock an invite to a sex party.
As London and the rest of the UK (and world) struggle towards their Pan-iversary - where lockdown existed across 2020 and into 2021 - they muse on what the future will look like for queer communities and spaces in the "new world".
Talanoa release: KOREKORE RAWEA / LĀ‘AU KŪLUA MAHINA (4th April 2021)
Isoa Tupua
My name is Isoa Tupua. I am a Fijian queer who was born in Fiji but raised in the UK. The majority of my work has been with young people where I am actively trying to provide them with a perspective that is inclusive and provides care.
Lyall Hakaraia
Lyall Hakaraia (Māori / Pākehā) is an artistic polymath and producer living in London whose work encompasses designing, curating, Art Directing, and programming a queer arts venue (VFD) in the East End and his work encompasses making communal ritualistic artwork, appearing in front of the camera and dressing celebrities for red carpet events. All of his work reflects his passion for working with marginalised people to create functioning communities. Lyall is proud of his diverse origins and is a founding member of Moku the first pacific arts collective in the UK and Fagamuffin the QTIPOC sound system
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