Saturday University Lecture series presents an artist talk by interdisciplinary artist Yuki Kihara. Kihara is an artist of Japanese and Samoan descent who identifies as a Fa’afafine—a traditional third gender in Samoa.

Her exhibition, Paradise Camp, on view at the 2022 Venice Biennale, casts a critical light on the Western longing for paradise across the Samoan archipelago that masks a history of colonial violence perpetuated by the West itself. Kihara creates her own interpretation of paradise while centering her Samoan Fa’afafine community with humor, joy, and resilience. Kihara also explores the unseen histories of the island, questions gender equality, and surfaces the idea of belonging seen from the indigenous perspective by “upcycling” the paintings of Paul Gauguin. Paradise Camp also unravels the impact of climate change on this idyllic land and reveals a portrait of the rapidly changing Samoan ecological landscape.

Saturday University lectures are organized by the Gardner Center for Asian Art and Ideas in collaboration with the Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington.

Recorded December 10, 2022