FAFSWAG TAKEOVER: FALE SĀ / SACRED HOUSE

A celebration of queer Indigenous culture, FALE SĀ / SACRED HOUSE is the outcome of a two – year artistic residency by artist collective FAFSWAG.

Founded in Auckland in 2013, FAFSWAG’s work centres Indigenous world views, drawing from a deep well of ancestral knowledge to imagine potential futures for Indigenous people beyond the colonial gaze.

Created for Manchester International Festival, FALE SĀ / SACRED HOUSE responds to the reality that home is a precarious notion for cultures in a constant state of motion and displacement. Over two years, artists from the FAFSWAG collective were invited to create a ceremonial house inhabited by ancestral stories from the Pacific Diaspora of Aotearoa New Zealand and the wider Moana.

Culminating at MIF25, FAFSWAG will welcome audiences on an immersive cultural journey into the realm of Pacific storytelling as they take over the Manchester city centre venue HOME for the duration of the festival.

Encompassing an always-on exhibition of digital art, moments of live cultural ceremony and a programme of indigenous cinema and public discussions, FALE SĀ / SACRED HOUSE explores themes like transformation and ritual, fantasy and futurism, the environment, cultural languages and spirituality.

A joyous and thought-provoking celebration of cultural exchange and storytelling, with FALE SĀ / SACRED HOUSE FAFSWAG ask for your participation, not your consumption.

Co-commissioned by Factory International and HOME, Manchester. Produced by Factory International. SAUNIGA (Ceremony) was developed with support from AsiaTOPA, Arts Centre Melbourne.