Western Terrace: What Holds Us

What Hold Us is an immersive experience exploring the people, practices and relationships that sustain us across generations. Through three interconnected spaces, audiences are invited to reflect on what is inherited, what is chosen, and how community creates belonging.
Grounded in Sāmoan cultural perspectives and contemporary lived experience, the experience centres the ways identity is shaped through family, culture and collective responsibility. While inspired by Sāmoan experiences, What Hold Us offers audiences of all backgrounds an opportunity to consider the people and values that hold them throughout their lives.

To arrive at the Western Terrace, audiences journey through two immersive spaces that explore inheritance and choice. Each room builds upon the last, creating a pathway towards a communal gathering that celebrates connection, reciprocity and belonging.

Space 1: What We Inherit

The journey begins with What We Inherit, a domesticated space dressed as a typical island home. Familiar household objects, furnishings and cultural items create an environment that evokes the rhythms of everyday family life.

Within this space, audiences encounter written works by Sāmoan writers Tanuvasamanaia Christine Afoa and Fale Tumanu. Writing as tama'ita'i, daughters of Sāmoa living in the diaspora, they reflect on the role of daughters within the household and community. Their works explore the responsibilities, expectations, care and cultural knowledge carried by women across generations, considering how these roles continue to shape identity and belonging far from the homeland.

Space 2: What We Choose

Audiences then move into a more intimate and sacred space inspired by the experience of receiving a traditional tattoo. Immersed in the rhythmic soundscape of tattooing, participants are invited to sit with the physical, emotional and spiritual dimensions of cultural marking.

Inspired by Gabriel Faatauʻuu-Satiu's decision to receive a tualima from Sāmoan female tufuga Sua Tyla Vaeau and Dee Vaeau, this space honours the story of Taema and Tilafaiga, the sisters credited with bringing the gift of tattooing to Sāmoa. It reflects on choice, agency and the ways cultural practices continue to evolve while remaining deeply connected to ancestral knowledge.

Space 3: Where We Belong

The experience concludes with a kava gathering (‘ava in Sāmoan culture) facilitated by Elijah Lemusuifeaualiʻi. Drawing upon traditional practices of welcome, storytelling and hospitality, the Western Terrace becomes a space for intentional connection. Guests are welcomed into a shared circle where kava serves as a catalyst for conversation, learning and relationship-building.

Following cultural acknowledgements and the preparation of the kava, audiences are invited to gather, share stories, listen to live music and participate in a communal experience grounded in friendship, respect and reciprocity. Rather than observing culture from a distance, participants are welcomed into a living practice of connection and belonging.

Together, these three spaces invite audiences to consider what they inherit, what they choose to carry forward, and the communities that ultimately hold them.

Curated by Gabe Faatau'uu-Satiu

When: Wednesday 28th October, 6pm - 8pm
Location: Level 3, Western Terrace
Registration: Spaces are limited with some seats and standing room. Registration is essential As this is an outdoor venue, please dress accordingly. For access requirements please contact PHIVEtickets@cityofparramatta.nsw.gov.au 

Photo by Lemusuifeauali’i, Elijah.Auimatagi, Tala ‘Oe Kumete Exhibition, 2026. Morrison, Sofia, Artslab, Shopfront Arts Co-op, NSW.

The Western Terrace is a series of creative gatherings, performances and workshops taking place underneath the golden hour, as the sun sets, facing West, thinking West. Imagining the Western Terrace as an extension of their own homes, gardens and balconies, the series features artists, authors, filmmakers, musicians and community sharing domestic ritual collectively.