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FAFSWAG
@fafswag.nz
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Critically acclaimed NZ Arts Laureates & Queer Indigenous, Interdisciplinary Arts Collective from the Moana. Based in Tāmaki Makaurau - SOUTH AKL

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fafswag.nz
Thank you. Can't wait till then xx ❤️
November 4, 2025 at 9:35 AM
fafswag.nz
Thank you for sharing. x :)
November 4, 2025 at 5:01 AM
Reposted by FAFSWAG
dcapto.bsky.social
There are even some beautifully embroidered blankets with scenes like this one included in the exhibit. Such amazing details up close 🤩
A large, colourful blanket depicting a scene with a person in a kayak and three people on the bank of the river by JANET NUNGNIK PADLERMIUT / IHALMIUT, INUIT b. 1954 EAGLE'S SHADOW 2018 appliqué, stitching, embroidery floss, and beading on wool felt Janet Nungnik was born in the Kivalliq region of present-day Nunavut and was relocated to Qamani'tuaq (Baker Lake) with her family during her childhood. Her unique and flamboyant way with perspective, comic eye, bold use of colour, and radical simplification make her one of the most extraordinary artists at work in the North today. In this aerial scene, Inuit on the land greet a kayaker who is navigating a surging river—a scene no doubt inspired by her early years-while the shadows of eagles fall across the bottom shoreline. In the lower right, Nungnik has layered the Inuktitut syllabics for Nunavut, meaning "Our Land," over the word "Canada," bringing to mind the colonial nation-state and its claims on Indigenous territories. Close up of two Inuit people on the bank of the river, a row of houses below them, made with many colourful threads embroidered into the blanket. Another close up of the third Inuit person wearing a yellow tunic with green vest design that has blue and red beads hanging from the bottom of it, kneeling on the bank with arms up. Yellow and purple orbs hover above their arms. Close up of the kayaker in a white coat with red paddles in a bright yellow kayak, lots of white capped dark blue waves embroidered with white details.
October 28, 2025 at 11:34 PM
Reposted by FAFSWAG
dcapto.bsky.social
A small sampling of some amazing Indigenous masks included in the exhibit ‘Early Days: Indigenous Art the McMichael’. If you love these, you have to check out the rest, including 3 large spectacular ones not shown here.
Wooden painted mask by CHARLIE GEORGE SR., CHIEF XILX'IDI, "THROWS AWAY A BLANKET" 'NAKWAXDA'XW, KWAKWAKA WAKW 1874-1944? KUMUGWE', "WEALTHY ONE," CHIEF OF THE UNDERSEA KINGDOM MASK C. 1890-1910 western red cedar with natural pigment paints This mask of Kumugwe' (pronounced GOO-moo-gweh), is the work of Chief Charlie George Sr. and can be compared closely to numerous masks in museum collections. Chief George is respected and admired as one of the artists who persevered through the Potlatch Prohibition years, diligently creating work for ceremonial use. He was an activist in the underground potlatch gatherings that many Kwakwaka'wakw tribes conducted in order to save their culture. The traditional colours used here— black, red, green, and white— are typical in Kwakwaka'wakw art, but the predominant use of ocean green in this work contributes to our identification of this piece as Kumugwe. Chief George often carved his figures with upward-looking eyes; they became his trademark. Such eyes can represent either spiritual possession or a being looking upward from the depths of the ocean. The deep hollows in the cheeks are painted with lines representing gills. Flowing upward from the cheeks and above the eyebrows are U-shaped designs that suggest fish scales or rolling waves. A wooden mask painted light brown with rosy cheeks and lips, large abalone mother-of-pearl eyes, white feathers on top above forehead and hanging down the sides of the face. By SIMON DICK KWAKWAKA'WAKW b. 1951 EAGLE SPIRIT 1995 alder, eagle feathers and down, acrylic wash, abalone, horsehair, operculum, strings An amazing mask within a mask. A white face with the mouth shaped like an O, bristly horsehair hair, and the outer mask opened in 2 halves on either side of the face, with beautiful carving and black outlined face designs inside each half. ART THOMPSON DITIDAHT, NUU-CHAH-NULTH 1948-2003 WHALE AND POOK-UBS TRANSFORMATION MASK 2002 red cedar, cedar bark, horsehair, abalone, paint, metal hinges, strings Art Thompson's spectacular contemporary transformation mask was made for trade, but it recalls a style of mask used in ceremony in which one countenance could suddenly and dramatically give way to reveal another. Here the whale on the exterior of the mask opens to reveal Pook-Ubs, the spirit of a drowned sailor who has been eaten by the whale, much storied in Coast Salish culture. The outside of that double mask showing the whale in the style of Haida art, made of brown wood, painted eyes nose and mouth in black, green and red, with abalone mother-of-pearl teeth.
October 28, 2025 at 11:19 PM