I’m an artist of Samoan ancestry and I identify as an openly gay male. I’m the product of a loving family and a rich cultural identity that embraces me fully and completely. This is my privilege and something I never take for granted in my creative life.

What issues are most important to you?

I’m really invested in creating fertile conditions that allow current and future generations of Moana LGBTIQ peoples to not only exist and have a place of standing, but to also thrive and flex their potential.

Are you associated with any change organisations?

I’m the co-founder of the FAFSWAG Arts Collective – an incubator for queer indigenous creative practitioners to share resources and connect with other change makers, disruptors and instigators, globally.

I also sit on the Love Life Fono Trust board that works in partnership with the New Zealand AIDS Foundation to support and enable Moana LGBTIQ communities.

In 2017, what change would you most like to see?

I want to see Moana LGBTIQ peoples empowered through self-determined destinies and not stifled by a system that continues to implement administrative violence, marginalization through funding, and prescriptive solutions to a community that clearly have diverse needs. It’s tired, it doesn’t work, and we’re enabled through our cultural customs and social realities to know what will work for us. Trust that and back the hell up already.

Who inspires you?

My FAFGANG inspire me on the daily.

Name your favourite queer anthem or protest song.

West Papu (Papua Merdeka Remix) – George Telek