Images reproduced with permission from Tatau: A History of Sāmoan Tattooing by Sean Mallon and Sébastien Galliot, published by Te Papa Press.
19.11.1991. Velvet Crescent, Otara, south Auckland. Fatu Feu‘u. Tufuga tātatau: Su‘a Sulu‘ape Paulo. © Mark Adams
Tattooed Sāmoan c. 1900, photograph by Thomas Andrew. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, O.005772
Tauili‘ili Watti Mika and Sulu‘ape Freewind and their tattooed bodysuits, Saleapaga, Sāmoa, 2001. © Sean Mallon
‘There is a strong tendency nowadays to display the American Eagle in a tattoo design actually as the whole or part of the punialo.’ Jack W. Groves, A Unique Tattoo, Apia, Sāmoa, 1952. © The Trustees of The British Museum;
Male and female tatau, photographed by Li‘aifaiva Imo Levi @liaifaiva
Autā (tattooing tools) made by Su‘a Sulu‘ape Alaiva‘a Petelo. © Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, photographer Maarten Holl
‘With stretching, you have two stretchers but they don’t do the same job. The stretcher next to the tufuga would be the less experienced stretcher, and the more experienced stretcher would be opposite the tufuga ...’ © 2016–2017, Li‘aifaiva Imo Levi @liaifaiva
Tatau as a cultural symbol of the nation. Members of Sāmoa Contingent, Ninth
Pacific Festival of the Arts in Palau, 2004: Ana Kalolo (left) and Karene Fa‘asisila (right). © Sean Mallon
Walking the Wall (2014), Angela Tiatia; digital video (still). © Angela Tiatia, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, 2017-0019-1/1-8 to 8-8
Participants before the Sulu‘ape title bestowal at Lefaga, Sāmoa, in 2001. From left to right: Pili Mo‘o (Tenerife); Keone Nunes (Hawai‘i); Uili Tasi (Sāmoa); Freewind (USA), Michel Thieme
(Netherlands); Inia Taylor (Aotearoa New Zealand). © Sean Mallon
Tyla Vaeau Ta‘ufo‘ou in 2017. Photographed by Pati Solomona Tyrell.
view of Sean Mallon's tatau
The images in this gallery are used with permission and are subject to copyright conditions.
