Yuki Kihara, 'Two Fa‘afafine (After Gauguin)', 2020. Image courtesy of Yuki Kihara and Milford Galleries, Aotearoa New Zealand.
Photo Credit
After a critical reception at the 59th Venice Biennale in 2022, artist Yuki Kihara’s solo exhibition entitled Paradise Camp is touring the independent State of Sāmoa in 2024.
The Paradise Camp exhibition features a suite of photographs presented as an outdoor exhibition, where each of the twelve photographs are surrounded by lush tropical foliage situated across the premises of the Saletoga Sands Resort and Spa in Upolu Island. The photographic series recast and ‘upcycle’ select paintings by French post-impressionist painter Paul Gauguin (1848 – 1903) which were inspired by photographs of Sāmoa – a country Gauguin had never visited before. Additionally, the Paradise Camp photographs reclaim the colonial narratives of Gaugin’s work by featuring Fa’afafine and Fa’atama models – a third and fourth-gender community unique to Sāmoan culture – by speaking of their experience with Climate change as a form of resilience and empowerment. Subsequently, the Paradise Camp photo shoot which took place in March 2020 involved a local cast and crew of close to one hundred people, photographed on locations including rural villages, churches, plantations and heritage sites in the Aleipata district and wider Upolu Island.
Saletoga Sands Resort and Spa
- Saletoga Sands Resort and Spa
- Aleipata district
- Upolu Island
- The independent State of Sāmoa
After a critical reception at the 59th Venice Biennale in 2022, artist Yuki Kihara’s solo exhibition entitled Paradise Camp is touring the independent State of Sāmoa in 2024.
The Paradise Camp exhibition features a suite of photographs presented as an outdoor exhibition, where each of the twelve photographs are surrounded by lush tropical foliage situated across the premises of the Saletoga Sands Resort and Spa in Upolu Island. The photographic series recast and ‘upcycle’ select paintings by French post-impressionist painter Paul Gauguin (1848 – 1903) which were inspired by photographs of Sāmoa – a country Gauguin had never visited before. Additionally, the Paradise Camp photographs reclaim the colonial narratives of Gaugin’s work by featuring Fa’afafine and Fa’atama models – a third and fourth-gender community unique to Sāmoan culture – by speaking of their experience with Climate change as a form of resilience and empowerment. Subsequently, the Paradise Camp photo shoot which took place in March 2020 involved a local cast and crew of close to one hundred people, photographed on locations including rural villages, churches, plantations and heritage sites in the Aleipata district and wider Upolu Island.