Exhibition
If the shoe fits
17 December 2021 – 20 February 2022 Bottle Creek Gallery
If the shoe fits explores shoes as a metaphoric and literal representation of the struggles and stories of MVPFAFF+, Takatāpui, and LGBTQiA+ communities
If the shoe fits explores shoes as a metaphoric and literal representation of the struggles and stories of MVPFAFF+, Takatāpui, and LGBTQiA+ communities
If the shoe fits profiles fourteen members of Porirua and wider Wellington’s Māori and Pasifika rainbow communities. Using shoes as a metaphoric and literal representation of the struggles and stories of MVPFAFF+, Takatāpui,and LGBTQiA+ communities, If the shoe fits is made up of fourteen portraits, fourteen video interviews and fourteen shoes.
The exhibition was developed and curated by Sevia Saviour Nua, the inaugural Aniva Arts Resident, funded by Creative New Zealand through the Pacific Arts Strategy 2018 – 2023. Saviiey is a Fa’afafine with ancestral ties to the Sāmoan villages of Malie, Faleula and Asau on her mother’s side and Solosolo and Fagali’i on her father’s side. She was raised in Porirua and is driven by the need to create spaces within Porirua where MVPFAFF+ communities can gather and create.
DEFINITIONS: MVPFAFF (Pacific LGBTQiA+)
M for Mahu in Tahiti and Hawai'i.
V for Vaka sa lewa lewa in Fiji.
P for Palopa in Papua New Guinea.
F for Fa'afafine in Samoa and American Samoa.
A for Akava'ine in the Cook Islands.
F for Fakaleiti or leiti in the Kingdom of Tonga.
F for Fakafifine in Niue.
Image: Hillary Harrison Kahaki, Sella Vaoliko, 2021. Digital print. Courtesy of the artist
Please note COVID-19 Protection Framework (traffic light system) public gathering protocols must be observed.
All those attending must wear a face mask and maintain 1 metre distance between others outside of your bubble.
