Afiaf left - Afiaf right

As a co-commission by Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden Baden, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tallawoladah/Sydney, the Plimsoll Gallery, University of Tasmania, nipaluna/Hobart, and Aupuni Space, Honolulu, Léuli Eshrāghi presents their new dual channel video work, afiafi. As the fourth work in Eshrāghi’s ongoing series Siapo viliata o le atumotu (2020–), afiafi is titled by the Samoan word which means day, afternoon, evening, and fire in Sāmoan, symbolizing life cycles, pleasure, and renewal.

Social interactions with queer Indigenous kin are central to the work. The double channel video narrates Eshrāghi and their collaborators in ceremonial settings with blessings, celebrations, and other connections with their roots and as a real-time activation, it regenerates various rituals of Indigenous storytelling with present pictures.