Tatau: Samoan Tattooing and Global Culture
Photographs by Mark Adams
Sponsored by Urban Primitive
Exhibition Preview: Friday, February 15, 4 to 9 pm
An Evening of Conversation: Peter Brunt & Mark Adams: Friday, February 15, 6:30 pm
Making its North American debut at OCAD’s Professional Gallery, Tatau: Samoan Tattooing and
Global Culture: Photographs by Mark Adams originated at Wellington’s Adam Art Gallery before touring New Zealand
and Australia. Exploring '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 Sulu’ape 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 photography’s 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 decline of tattooing traditions overlapping with tattooing’s
explosion into the mainstream - this paradox has effects 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.
Tatau at the Premiere Dance Theatre, Harbourfront Centre
Ticket holders to the Premiere Dance Theatre can see additional images from Tatau in the Premiere
Dance Theatre gallery at Harbourfront Centre. The images are presented in conjunction with the presentation of Black
Grace, which runs April 30 to May 3, as part of 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.
The talk with Mark Adams and Peter Brunt takes place in the OCAD Auditorium. All are welcome and
admission is free. Limited seating available. Guests are advised to arrive early.
All are welcome; admission is free.
OCAD Professional Gallery hours:
Wed. to Fri., 1 to 7 pm; Sat. and Sun., 12 to 6 pm.
100 McCaul Street, Toronto
416-977-6000
Homepage: http://www.ocad.ca
