| Ancient tattoo tools/original filipino tattoo designs |
Question:
I've been looking for information on filipino tribal tattoo desgins. Could you
e-mail some information,names of books,magizines or web sites were I can find
these designs? I've been searching for a long time now, so any information
would be greatly appreciated.
Answer:
There's a fairly recent coffee table book called Tahiti Tattoos by Gian Paolo
Barbieripublished by Tashen. I got my copy at Vrigin Records in New Orleans.
Not only does it have beautiful pictures, there are a number of drawings and
designs. Briefly, the Christians essentially drove the tattoo culture
underground in French Polynesia (Tahiti is one of the islands, but the term is
often used for all of French Polynesia).
The skills and designs were almost lost to history, but in the early 1980's
at the Tiurai celebrations, with the help of Samoan practitioners, a renaissance
of tattooing took place, and thrives quite widely.
The book also gives some of the details of the religious sources, the different
tattoos between the classes, and the gender differences. Its a superficial but
fascinating treatment.
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