Artbank: July 16, 2017

Pati Solomona Tyrell’s sensationaal St Paul St show Fāgogo is discussed this week. Sione Monu, Pati Solomona Tyrell, and Manu Vaea caught up with Rachel for a chat. Fāgogo in Sāmoan refers to fables that are told to people in a shared context. The receiver of a fāgogo is vested with an expectation to pass on the story, making it their own and then passing it on. This oral tradition is sustained from generation to generation and acts as a transmission tool for ideology but also as a genealogical archive for shared historical and cultural context. A fāgogo can mirror the real world in ways that transcend contemporary life, through cultural imperatives that pre-date Western beliefs and value systems.