Malaga draws upon the conceptual and historical frameworks of mobility, return, and the cultural imprint of ancestral navigation across the Pacific. This body of work positions movement not merely as physical relocation, but as a dynamic, multi-generational process that shapes identity, memory, and artistic expression. In Malaga, Siah Fina’i reflects on the complexity of forging personal and collective trajectories—charting paths that oscillate between departure and return, dislocation and reorientation.
The exhibition foregrounds the figure of the Gogo (frigate bird), a potent visual and symbolic reference in Fina’i’s practice. The Gogo, historically observed by master navigators across Oceania, signals proximity to land and acts as a natural guide through vast oceanic routes. It is also a recurring motif in the Samoan practice of Tātatau, representing vigilance, endurance, and connection to ancestral knowledge. Within Malaga, the Gogo operates as both a metaphoric and literal indicator of homecoming and cultural continuity—its migratory rhythm mirroring the artist’s exploration of identity and belonging.
Fina’i’s broader practice re-engages customary Samoan visual systems, oral traditions, and sacred geometries through contemporary modes of making. His work reimagines ancestral narratives through a personal lens—grounded in lived experience, familial ties, and the intergenerational transmission of cultural codes. In doing so, Malaga becomes a visual mapping of return—not to a fixed origin, but to a sensibility shaped by fluid histories and a deep commitment to cultural knowledge as an evolving, embodied practice.
