Tatau Exhibition Opens Saturday in LA

tatau-la

What is believed to be the first exhibition of the tatau or Samoan tattoo at a Japanese American institution opens Saturday in Los Angeles.

The exhibition entitled, “Tatau: marks of Polynesia,” will be on display at the Japanese American National Museum in LA .

It looks at the Samoan practice of tattoo and how the patterns and motifs of these works of art help preserve the Samoan culture.

The show will feature examples of traditional Samoan tattoo, or tatau, along with contemporary Polynesian works and other pieces that have been influenced by the tradition.

Tatau” curator Takahiro Kitamura says, “The main basic reason that the exhibit is at the Japanese American National Museum is for civil rights.“

He said it actually fits very well with the museum’s mission statement, because “here we’re talking about an art form that helped the Samoan people keep their identity together back then, and even now it affirms identity.”

Kitamura, who was here last year with a film crew and American Samoan tattoo artists said, “Samoa is a very unique population when half of the Samoans in the world live in Samoa, the other half live in the United States, New Zealand, Hawaii, Guam and other places.”

A tattooist himself , Kitamura says the Samoan custom of tattooing has survived many attempts at eradication, because the islanders kept the designs and patterns alive by incorporating them into other art mediums.

He reflects that “Samoa, for one reason or another, manages to hold onto their traditions very closely. Some of the other islands have not fared so well.”

It took two years for Kitamura to put “Tatau” together, which consists mainly of photographs of tattoo artists at work and people with their completed designs. There will also be artifacts and tools associated with tattooing on display.

The exhibit focuses on traditional Samoan and contemporary Polynesian tattoos with the emphasis on the tattoo artists of the Sulu’ape family, such as Petelo Sulu’ape and his late brother Paul Sulu’ape, who are credited with sparking the global resurgence of Samoan tattoos.

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