 Tatau 27: Mark Adams, 5.3.1982. Farwood Drive, Henderson, West Auckland. Uli. Tufuga tatatau: Su’a Pasina Sefo. RA colour print, 120 by 150 cm.  Tatau 46: Mark Adams, 17.9.2005. Avondale Rd, Avondale, Auckland. Pasina Betham and sons with Fune Betham and Pasina Sefo. Tufuga tatatua: Su’a Pasina Sefo. RA colour print, 100 by 120 cm. |
This exhibition explores tatau, the Samoan tattooing tradition, as an example of cross-cultural collaboration and cultural diversity. Based on a twenty-five year association with the tufuga tatatau (tattoo artists), particularly Adams friendship with Samoan tattooing master Suluape Paulo II, these photographs show a global community transplanting, adopting and appropriating the tatau. Adams images also consider the man behind the camera and the viewer before the prints by exploring colonial photographys legacy and the search for alternative representations of our relationships with others.
"These beguiling pictures describe distant cultures while raising issues relevant here," says Professional Gallery curator Charles Reeve. "The negotiation between traditional tattooing and mainstream appropriation occurs in numerous contexts around the globe."
Mark Adams is one of New Zealand's foremost documentary photographers. His work on Samoan tattooing, Maori-Pakeha interactions around Rotorua, and New Zealand’s historic sites have been shown extensively in New Zealand, Europe, Australia, South Africa, and Brazil. His books include Land of Memories and Cook's Sites. Adams lives in Auckland, New Zealand.
Peter Brunt teaches Pacific art, Postcolonial art and theory, and Primitivism in the Art History program at Wellington's Victoria University. His research addresses Pacific art, art and cross-cultural encounter in the Pacific, and postcolonial art and theory.
This component of Tatau is presented in conjunction with the Ontario College of Art & Design and the presentation of Black Grace, which runs April 30 to May 3, as part of Harbourfront Centre's World Stage 08. New Zealand's leading contemporary dance company, Black Grace is an all-male troupe combining Pacific Island traditions with contemporary dance. Parts of their repertoire use movement to explore Samoan tatau.
Making its North American debut at OCAD's Professional Gallery, the complete exhibition of Tatau: Samoan Tattooing and Global Culture: Photographs by Mark Adams is on display from February 15 to May 18, 2008 at the OCAD Professional Gallery, 100 McCaul Street, Toronto (416-977-6000).
Access to this exhibition for Premiere Dance Theatre ticket holders only.
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