For Gabriel Faatau’uu-Satiu, the artist behind One Ocean, Many Waves (part of Shopfront Arts’ ArtsLab: Collide), the journey as a Pasifika artist is a lonely one. Symptomatic of a wider deficit in funding and resourcing for the arts, the task of building a community around Pasifika storytelling is monumental.
“The irony,” explains Faatau’uu-Satiu, “is that storytelling is inherent in our identity as Pacific people. It’s our way of life. From singing, dancing, weaving, food, fashion art (…) I could go on forever.”
Faatau’uu-Satiu is a proud Sāmoan storyteller from Western Sydney, a member of the Black Friars Theatre Company, and founder/creative director of Saitu Studios — one of the few Pasifika-led creative organisations in Australia.
His previous credits include Breaking Bread, an anthology series which weaves traditional Pasifika modes of storytelling with contemporary methods, Untitled: A Life in the Day Of…, with an all-Sāmoan cast and crew, and The Kokos, made for children to learn Sāmoan language.
Building on this body of work, Faatau’uu-Satiu presents One Ocean, Many Waves as a tapestry of Pasifika stories — both celebrating the shared histories and cultures of the more than thirty nations of the Pacific, and recognising the important distinctions between each.
The inspiration for One Ocean, Many Waves stemmed from Papua New Guinean poet Mel Ree’s spoken-word piece, Butterfly.
Ree, performing on Slammed, an ABC spoken-word poetry program, narrates her experience as a Papuan woman, and the trauma that comes with the Pasifika experience in so-called Australia — “let my life be the dam that finally seals the river.”
Faatau’uu-Satiu described a sense of being captivated by Ree’s performance, “from her use of visual language through metaphors, how dynamic she is in her delivery as a performer, accompanied by simple lighting and dance-like cinematography.
“Not only were her words brought to life on-screen, but I was mesmerised and very emotional in hearing and seeing a Pacific person telling a Pacific story.”
One Ocean, Many Waves combines generations of Pasifika storytelling and Faatau’uu-Satiu’s own experience living away from his homeland, synthesised into an immersive and visually stunning installation which brings some of the stories and cultures of Pacific Island nations here to Gadigal Land.
Moving through the installation space at 107 Redfern Street, its vibrancy and energy engages all of the senses.
Across his three-part installation, Faatau’uu-Satiu explores the many facets of Pasifika identity and experience through a series of documentary-style interviews, spoken-word poetry performances, displays of textile designs, traditional song and dance, and monologues written and performed by a village of Pasifika people.
The installation is dynamic and transportational, wrapping the viewer in layers of story and culture. It speaks to the breadth and depth of Pacific experience, offering just a glimpse of what it means to identify as Tagata Moana.
As a First Nations person, One Ocean, Many Waves is a liminal experience. Viewing the installation as an “outsider,” someone not belonging to this community, there are parts of Faatau’uu-Satiu’s work that are not meant for me.
There are stories and symbols in the textile displays which I cannot read. There are experiences shared in interviews and poems that I can never understand, though they do resonate.
And still, there is a sense of commonality — a shared experience, across oceans and cultures, as Indigenous peoples. It’s a transitional experience, and one which encourages me to reflect on my own sense of connection to culture and community, and my place as an Aboriginal person living off-Country.
Faatau’uu-Satiu has embedded something special within this installation. As he describes it, One Ocean, Many Waves is “story sovereignty at its finest.”
There is a particular focus on diversifying perceptions of Pacific cultures. Faatau’uu-Satiu credits films like Disney’s Moana with “homogenising Pacific Island nations, clumping us into one.” He explains, “we wear very different clothes. We speak different languages. We have completely different traditions and rituals, and we all look very different too.”
“Although I think it’s so beautiful that we want to be celebrated as a community of islands, it’s important to recognise that we should be looked at and treated as individual nations as well.”
One Ocean, Many Waves does not, nor could it, showcase the full depth of the Pacific experience in so-called Australia. It offers a small number of stories and experiences, curated by Faatau’uu-Satiu, which are part of a deep ocean of voices yet to be heard.
The idea is not to present a definitive showcase of Pasifika identity, but to inspire and empower Pasifika artists and creatives to tell their stories.
Faatau’uu-Satiu hopes One Ocean, Many Waves will be “a catalyst for all the Pacific stories to come.”One Ocean, Many Waves: Gabriel Faatau’uu-Satiu at ArtsLab: Collide