Yuki Kihara's 'Darwin in Paradise Camp' at Sainsbury Centre explores queer Indigenous perspectives through drag.
At the Sainsbury Centre in Norwich, Japanese-Sāmoan artist Yuki Kihara showcases 'Darwin in Paradise Camp' until 3 August 2025. This segment of her 'Paradise Camp' initiative features the video 'Darwin Drag' (2025), where Kihara, donning prosthetics, embodies Charles Darwin, accompanied by drag queen BUCKWHEAT (Lealailepule Edward Cowley) as they navigate a coral reef. The exhibition also displays photographs, sculptures, and an archive reminiscent of a natural history museum. Kihara's artwork critiques colonial visual narratives while tackling issues of gender and racial bias. 'Paradise Camp' imagines a Fa'afafine utopia. Kihara's research included a visit to the Natural History Museum in London, with the Fa'afafine community overseeing the exhibition's opening, promoting inclusion in climate change discussions.
Key facts
- Yuki Kihara's exhibition 'Darwin in Paradise Camp' runs at the Sainsbury Centre in Norwich through 3 August 2025.
- The exhibition is part of Kihara's ongoing 'Paradise Camp' project, which began in 2020 and has toured to Venice, Sydney, and Sāmoa.
- Kihara's video 'Darwin Drag' (2025) features her in prosthetics as Charles Darwin exploring fish hermaphroditism with drag queen BUCKWHEAT (Lealailepule Edward Cowley).
- Kihara is Fa'afafine, a third gender identity in Sāmoa, and her work centers Indigenous queer perspectives and critiques colonial visual culture.
- The exhibition includes an archive called a Vārchive, incorporating the Sāmoan concept of Vā and displaying Kihara's passports showing sex markers M, X, and F.
- Research for 'Darwin Drag' involved viewing Darwin's fish specimens at the Natural History Museum in London, including a parrot fish collected in Tahiti in 1835.
- Kihara's 'BERTHA' (2023) series upcycles vintage dolls to document outfits of Sāmoan drag queen activist Bertha (Harold Samu).
- Kihara's 'After Gauguin' (2020) series recreates Paul Gauguin's paintings with Fa'afafine and Fa'atane models to subvert the Western gaze.
Entities
Artists
- Yuki Kihara
- Charles Darwin
- Lealailepule Edward Cowley
- Rita Menu
- Shayden Taylor
- Tess Tickle
- Mizac Hotere
- Paul Gauguin
- Thomas Andrew
- Bertha
- Harold Samu
- Natalie King
- Albert Wendt
- Tagaloa
Institutions
- Sainsbury Centre
- New Zealand Pavilion
- Venice Biennale
- Powerhouse Museum
- Saletoga Sands Resort & Spa
- Natural History Museum London
- ArtReview
Locations
- Norwich
- United Kingdom
- Venice
- Italy
- Gadigal land
- Sydney
- Australia
- Sāmoa
- Aotearoa New Zealand
- Tahiti
- French Polynesia
- London
- Pacific Ocean
- South Pacific
- South Seas
- North America
- India
- Balkan
- Thailand