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Tatau Talk

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Join Te Papa curator Sean Mallon as he talks about the stunning book Tatau: Samoan Tattoo, New Zealand Art, Global Culture, photographs by Mark Adams, edited by Sean Mallon and Nicholas Thomas.

This unique book follows on from a successful exhibition still touring internationally. One hundred memorable images by documentary photographer Mark Adams present a powerful and moving portrait of a great Polynesian art tradition.

Tatau also tells the story of Sulu’ape Paulo II, the pre-eminent figure of modern Samoan tattooing. Paulo was a brilliantly innovative and controversial man, who saw tatau as an art of international importance. Accompanying Adams’ arresting photographs are two essays, and two interviews in which Sulu’ape Paulo II and Mark Adams each articulate their understanding of their own practices.

Mark Adams’ photography has been exhibited internationally, and published in Land of Memories (with Harry Evison, 1993) and Cook’s Sites: Revisiting History (with Nicholas Thomas, 1999). Sean Mallon is Senior Curator, Pacific Cultures at Te Papa. He is the author of a number of publications about Pacific art, including Pacific Art Niu Sila (Te Papa Press, 2002).