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Exploring identity through form | Jahra 'Rager' Wasasala | TEDxAuckland

2,746 views · Published 22 August 2018 · 14:08 · Indexed 25 September 2026

Channel: TEDx Talks · 2018 · Nonprofits & Activism

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Multi-disciplinary artist, Jahra 'Rager' Wasasala discusses her journey to understanding the complexities and internal conflicts of her identity and the world around her. As an artist, she has found that one way she explores this is through the use of her body with dance. Despite the discussed conflicts being incredibly personal to her, they are completely universal, as these are conflicts we can all admit to struggling with at one point, continually, or continuously. Jahra ends this talk with a moving and experimental piece that combines dance and poetry to express these ideas.  Jahra ‘Rager’ Wasasala is an award-winning cross-disciplinary artist of Fijian/NZ European descent. As an artist, Jahra investigates her ancestral connections through the art mediums of performance activation, contemporary dance and poetry, and has extensively toured her performance works both nationally and internationally.

As a child of the Pasifika diaspora, Jahra is invested in translating her shared internal conflict into an accessible, yet confrontational, physicalised language. Her most recent performance work titled “a world, with your wound in it” focuses on the complex relationship between the earth and a woman’s body, a theme Jahra continues to investigate in her developing work.

Jahra is known for her transcendent performance presence, otherworldly physicality and potent poetry, as well as her bold approach to political and social themes both on and off the stage. Jahra found her voice through the physical arts and believes that they are intrinsically tied to reclaiming autonomy, reconnecting to your ancestors and changing the world around you. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

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