Fat Babe Pool Party and #FATFEB

#FATFEB is set to be a season of radical fat positivity with Vunilagi Vou, a contemporary Pacific art gallery in Ōtāhuhu, naming FAT as the theme of their February 2020 programme and hosting a Fat Babe Pool Party alongside artist and fat activist Lissy Cole. I for one am VERY excited, and I hope that you will be too – here’s the lowdown on what’s happening when and how you can join in.

FAT exhibition curated by Ema Tavola

Opening Night: 6 – 8pm, Tuesday 4 February
Exhibition Dates: 5 – 29 February
Vunilagi Vou Studio, 4/256 Great South Road, Ōtāhuhu, South Auckland
Opening hours: Wed – Thu 10am – 5pm | Fri 10am – 6pm | Sat 11am – 4pm

A group exhibition at Vunilagi Vou featuring interdisciplinary creatives reflecting on fat experience. Featuring: Louisa Afoa, Riki Tipu Anderson, Lissy Cole, Jessicoco Hansell, Infamy Apparel, Meagan Kerr and Elyssia Wilson-Heti.

Curator Ema Tavola says, “This project is inspired in large part by my dear friend, Ōtāhuhu artist and fat activist, Lissy Cole, and the self acceptance she has helped me harness in myself since I met her at the age of 21. Fat acceptance is more than a curatorial concern, it’s a 100% heart, body and mind pursuit.

“I’ve grown to understand that a body is a body is a body. Fat acceptance is a radical, liberating act. The word, fat, is loaded… charged; it can instill fear into the hearts of men, women and children. Fat acceptance is maybe an unwillingness to allow fatphobic views to limit the abilities for us to practice and embody a loving relationship with our bodies and ourselves.

“But self love can be a messy affair. The forces of the worlds we inhabit, in our social/media landscapes, social settings, in our wardrobes, and in our quiet moments of self-reflection, can deeply affect our hearts. It’s a cliché but the journey of fat acceptance can be rocky terrain.

“As an exhibition, FAT is a collection of insights to fat experience: the everyday lives of those whose fat bodies are liberated from fat phobic limitations. It is a necessary campaign to offer relief from a fat phobic world, offering audiences empowering, honest, courageous insights by artists from multiple backgrounds.

“Beyond ‘fat acceptance’, FAT aims to be a celebration of fat, a glorification of the godliness our bodies hold, a bodily resistance. As a whole, the exhibition aims to offer audiences an opportunity to question the word fat and its socially entrenched associations, stigma and silencing of fat experience as a positive, empowered and deeply political state of resistance.”

Workshops

Writing the Fat Experience
2-5pm, Saturday 8 February
Vunilagi Vou Studio, 4/256 Great South Road, Ōtāhuhu, South Auckland

A free workshop facilitated by Elyssia Wilson-Heti (writer of Reclamation and core member of FAFSWAG collective). Registration recommended, please email hello@vunilagivou.com to register.

Drawing the Fat Body
6 – 8pm, Saturday 22 February
Vunilagi Vou Studio, 4/256 Great South Road, Ōtāhuhu, South Auckland

A free life drawing workshop facilitated by Leilani Kake. Registration essential, please email hello@vunilagivou.com to register.

FAT BABE POOL PARTY

3-8pm, Saturday 15 February
Mount Richmond Hotel, 676 Mount Wellington Highway, Ōtāhuhu, South Auckland

A ticketed pool party event hosted by Vunilagi Vou and Lissy Cole produced with support from Auckland Council as part of the Pacific Arts Programme. This special poolside event at Mount Richmond Hotel is for those who positively identify as fat and long for a safe space to celebrate our majestic forms, curves and folds, our shared experiences and liberation from the limitations of a fat phobic world. It’s summertime and your summer body is in perfect form – get your bikinis, togs and most fabulous resort wear ready and dress to impress! Our FAT BABE POOL PARTY is a celebration of fat positive experience as an empowered and deeply political state of bodily resistance. Get amongst like-minded babes, listen to good sounds and kick back in a little Southside oasis!

Guests will enjoy a glass of bubbles on arrival, a beautiful buffet dinner, spectacular decor and an inspiring panel discussion featuring:

❤ Meagan Kerr aka This is Meagan Kerr
❤ Jessicoco Hansell aka Kuini Qontrol aka COCO SOLID
❤ Dr Cat Pausé aka Friend of Marilyn

Tickets are $50 per person and strictly limited – please email Jazmin at fatbabepoolparty@gmail.com for details

Note:

– Whilst the event venue is wheelchair accessible, the pool sadly is not
– The beautiful buffet dinner has some vegetarian options
– This event is R18 and creates a safe space for fat adults to feel safe, free and supported. Only good vibes allowed.

Want to win a ticket to the pool party? Enter over on Instagram and Facebook!

#RealTalk: FAT Reflections

4 – 6pm, Saturday 29 February
Lissy Cole Designs HQ, 168 Avenue Road East, Ōtāhuhu, South Auckland

An open discussion group reflecting on the FAT exhibition and public programme events, facilitated by Ema Tavola & Lissy Cole. This event is free, all welcome. Proudly supported by Auckland Council as part of the Pacific Arts Programme.

I really hope I’ll see you at some of the #FATFEB events – especially the pool party! It’s going to be a super fun month and a great celebration. Hopefully this will be just the beginning of more community focused events – if you’ve got an idea for a future event please let us know!

Fat Babe Pool Party design by Nicole Lim.