ʻA night to rememberʻ (2022) by Yuki Kihara
From left to right: Michelle Duvall sponsored by Hollywood Fashion, Ymania Brown sponsored by Donovanʻs Reef, Isabella Ako sponsored by Laʻs Boutique Fashion, Freda Waterhouse sponsored by Rising Sun Hotel, Jackie McCathy sponsored by Passion Flower Boutique, Ira Lee Hemingway sponsored by Jazzercise and Connie Francis sponsored by Sestraʻs Corner.
Artist statement
The black and white photograph taken by an unknown New Zealand photographer captures Sāmoa’s first Fa’afafine beauty pageant held in 1983 and presented at Tiafau Hotel in the village of Sogi, part of the district of Apia, the capital city in the Island of Upolu in the Independent State of Sāmoa.
I worked closely with Venerable Elder Galumalemana Alfred ‘Freda’ Waterhouse - a former contestant who competed in the 1983 Fa’afafine pageant, to recreate each of the dresses worn by 7 out of 19 contestants featured in the photograph. Each contestant wears a sash that acknowledges the local business they are being sponsored by. Freda fondly remembers the pageant as being ‘A night to remember’. Over the last decade, I’ve been collecting the dolls previously dressed in Polynesian-inspired costumes found in thrift shops around Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland. These dolls mass-produced in Hong Kong perpetuated racial stereotypes. I also saw them on sale at duty-free stores at the international terminal in Suva, Fiji, back in 2018. In my work, the dolls are repurposed to memorialise a significant milestone in Sāmoaʻs Faʻafafine history that’s often marginalised. The dolls represent the resilience of the Faʻafafine community and pay tribute to generations of Faʻafafine who paved the way forward for all Sāmoans, including Fa’afafine today.
Fa’afafine translated as ʻIn the manner of a womanʻ, traditionally refers to Sāmoa’s third gender community; however, the term is also used to describe Sāmoa’s LGBTIQ+ community today broadly. In Sāmoan culture, Fa’afafine plays a crucial role in nurturing the kinship between families and villages. The Fa’afafine community are culturally recognised but not legally recognised.
During the New Zealand colonial occupation of Sāmoa (1914 – 1962), NZ colonial officials introduced two provisions directly aimed at Fa’afafine in Crimes Ordinance 1961, on the eve of Sāmoa’s Independence. These laws included a ban on female impersonation by any male in public; and homosexuality, where the punishment for breaking these laws had a fine and jail term of up to 6 months. As a result, many Fa’afafine fled to the neighbouring territory of American Sāmoa in fear of being persecuted by the authorities. The anti-Fa’afafine laws introduced by NZ colonial officials were the last straw against Sāmoa by highlighting the Fa’afafine community as an impediment toward Sāmoa becoming an independent, heteronormative nation.
The meeting between Fa’afafine exiles of Sāmoa and local Fa’afafine on the Island of Tutuila, American Sāmoa, however, gave rise to the establishment of Fa’afafine ‘houses’ based on friendly, collegial competition and a show of solidarity between both communities under colonial heteronormative oppression. The Fa’afafine exiles established themselves as ‘Hollywood’ while the local Fa’afafine in Tutuila established themselves as ‘Beverly Hills’. Both houses met at parties dressed to the nines, in an attempt to outdo each other by emulating the glamourous lives of American movie stars in Hollywood and Beverly Hills, as a way to escape the harsh reality of their lives.
This unique legacy is hinted at in the name ‘Hollywood Fashion’ printed on the sash worn by Michelle Duvall, one of the contestants in the 1983 Fa’afafine pageant. Ms Duvall, an owner of ‘Hollywood Fashion’ tailoring business located in the village of Saleufi in Upolu Island, employed Fa’afafine sewists. In addition, ‘Hollywood Fashion’ became an informal support hub for the Fa’afafine community just as it did in Tutuila. Subsequently, ‘Hollywood Fashion’ was one of many tailoring businesses run by Fa’afafine concentrated around Apia that produced glamourous gowns worn by Fa’afafine such as those featured in the 1983 Fa’afafine pageant who stood in defiance against colonial laws that undermined their pre-colonial existence.
Female impersonation law in Sāmoa was later questioned in parliament in the late 1970’s when a cabinet minister whose offspring was a well-known Fa’afafine entertainer at Aggie Greys Hotel in Apia pleaded to the government to relax the restrictions against Fa’afafine dressed in feminine attire given their contribution to the local tourism industry being one of the vital expanding sectors in Sāmoa. Perhaps, this may have led to the staging of the first Fa’afafine pageant at the Tiafau hotel. The winner of the 1983 pageant was Mulinu'ū Matā'afa, also known as ‘Ponty’.
In 2013, the female impersonation law was finally abolished. However, homosexuality remains illegal but not enforced. Despite this, however, the crown continues to be passed on between generations in Fa’afafine pageants, which have become the platform to showcase Fa’afafine creativity, visibility and activism.
I would like to thank the members of the Fa’afafine community, including Venerable Elder Galumalemana Alfred ‘Freda’ Waterhouse, Alex Su’a, Phylesha Brown Acton and the late Shevon Matai, for sharing their knowledge in support of my project.