Critically acclaimed art collective FAFSWAG will take over HOME for this year’s Manchester International Festival. They will present Fale Sā / Sacred House (4 July – 10 August), a cultural journey that encompasses a digital art exhibition, live cultural ceremony and a programme of films and talks that are grounded in Pacific identity and culture.
The work responds to the fact that home is a precarious notion for cultures in a constant state of motion and displacement. It draws on rituals and ancestral stories from the Pacific Diaspora of Aotearoa New Zealand and the wider Moana.
The work is an outcome of a two-year artistic residency, which began at Manchester International Festival in 2023. Fale Sā / Sacred House will explore themes including transformation and ritual, fantasy and futurism, the environment, cultural languages and spirituality.
FAFSWAG collective said:
“We’re excited to see all the threads of development culminate in our collective offering for Manchester International Festival. The Fale Sā / Sacred House has allowed us all to have a collective journey of discovery, exploring the unique history of our cultures and sharing stories with audiences of Manchester. We’re eager to see what new stories we can make together, through this cultural exchange.”
Low Kee Hong, Creative Director of Factory International and MIF, said:
“FAFSWAG are a brilliant multi-disciplinary collective of queer indigenous artists and we are so fortunate to have been working with them over the past few years to create Fale Sā / Sacred House for MIF25. This multiform project invites us to reimagine and reflect the future of home through the rediscovery of ancestral stories and rituals and how they inform these speculative formulations of community and assembly.”
Karen O’Neill, CEO of HOME, said:
“Working with Manchester International Festival to bring FAFSWAG to Manchester is fantastic. FAFSWAG are an incredible and exciting collective starting dynamic conversations. This programme will be exceptional. HOME is honoured to be part of this work and is looking forward to welcoming audiences to experience Fale Sā / Sacred House as part of MIF25.”
Listings Information:
Fale Sā / Sacred House
HOME, Manchester
4 July – 10 August 2025
