Tanu Gago

Tanu Gago

Born in Samoa and raised here in South Auckland, Tanu is part of a large family with diverse cultural background from around the Pacific. He studied performing arts at Unitec Institute of Technology and received a Bachelor of Arts in Performing Arts with a major in writing and directing for screening. Tanu's cultural background is one of the driving forces behind his artistic expression. He see's photography as a one shot opportunity to tell a story. In his most recent body of work Avanoa o Tama, 2012 Gago presented a series of photographs of Polynesian men which destabilise preconceived notions of gender and sexuality. Gago challenges the social and cultural expectations surrounding the representation of gender by concentrating on the ambiguous and performative nature of masculinity and sexual identity.