Fashion possesses a remarkable influence, capable of elevating designers to the genius state and to glorious fame, or conversely, subjecting creators to demanding and relentless pressures that can lead to their downfall. However, creative minds – and consumers as well – have the power to decide whether they want to let fashion dictate their lives, or if they want to assert control over it and use it as a tool for conveying messages to those receptive to them.
This purpose is precisely what the Tāgata Moana art collective Pacific Sisters aims to achieve through its practice. Established in the early '90s by Selina Forsyth, Suzanne Tamaki, and Niwhai Tupae, this multi-disciplinary collective includes key members such as Lisa Reihana (who represented New Zealand at the 2017 Venice Biennale with her "In Pursuit of Venus" project), Rosanna Raymond, Ani O'Neill, Feeonaa Wall, Henry Ah-Foo Taripo, Jaunnie 'Ilolahia, Karlos Quartez, and Greg Semu.
Rosanna Raymond has a stronger connection to the fashion world since a while back she used to work as a model and stylist and it was then that she became aware of the industry's discriminations. In response, she began working on alternative fashion presentations like Style Pasifika, a festival designed to project a powerful image of New Zealand-born Pacific Islanders.
It was with Pacific Sisters that Raymond and her colleagues discovered a safe space to experiment, break from traditions, and create new hybrids. The collective has been going for roughly 30 years now and in these decades they fought for inclusion and rebellion using various techniques – for example, some members, such as Lisa Reihana, work with digital media; Suzanne Tamaki is a fiber artist; Selina Haami is a dressmaker and designer, and Feeonaa Wall is a dancer and costume maker.
Their cultural diversity – they hail from Samoa, Tonga, the Cook Islands, and New Zealand – combined with their strength, enabled the sisters to blend their heritage art with contemporary forms. This fusion resulted in a variety of installations, often revolving around fashion and costume design, asserting their urban Māori, Pacific, and queer identities.
Often describing themselves in interviews as the Polynesian counterpart to Andy Warhol's Factory, the collective merges activism, art, environmental commitment, performance, film, ceremony, costume, and fashion in their practice. Originating from street style, their projects have evolved into multidimensional experiences in venues ranging from nightclubs to art galleries.
Their connection to fashion allows them to approach a wide range of themes, including hegemony and colonialism, from a radical and rebellious point of view. Pacific Sisters' installations often feature aitu (avatars), at times inspired by the artwork (for example, the songs) of one member of the collective. The aitu don costumes made from a wide range of materials that point at adornment and empowerment. These figures have a variety of meanings, hinting at protecting the environment, celebrating self-expression and encouraging the best from humanity.
Their latest installation, part of the Sydney Biennale, is showcased at the Art Gallery of New South Wales and comprises four aitu (last image in this post) figures in vibrant costumes made from materials such as plastic raffia skirting, faux pearls, recycled plastic, shark teeth, pig tusks, shells and natural fibers. The materials employed for the costumes reflect the sisters' kaupapa or philosophy of creating fashion activist works using natural and upcycled materials.
One notable figure within the installation, Mururoa, dons somber shades with elements such as horse bones, pigs' teeth, and volcanic rock incorporated into the costume.
Referencing the atoll part of the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia in the southern Pacific Ocean, a site of French nuclear tests in the Pacific (from 1966 to 1996), this aitu (centre figure, last image in this post) is a moniker, almost a tangible specter of an apocalypse that awaits us if we do not stop abusing our planet.
Despite the ominous theme, the installation chosen for the Sydney Biennale maintains a sense of optimism, as other aitu with their voluminous garments and colorful attire represent powerful ancestral entities that guard and contain Mururoat.
This narrative aligns with the overarching theme of the 24th Biennale of Sydney – "Ten Thousand Suns". The event looks indeed at today's problems from the climate emergency to human exploitation and catastrophes like the atomic era, but also proposes a more hopeful perspective, envisioning a potential future characterized by joy, collective production, and widespread sharing.
