Marquesas Islands Tattoo
The Marquesas Islands TattooTattoo revial in the Marquesas Islands
Although tattooing has become a worldwide phenomena, it often has very different meaning in different civilizations. In the West, a tattoo can be a means of self-expression, a sign of revolt against authorities or a mere "fashion accessory", but in other civilizations, especially in the Marquesas Islands, it is a long historical one.
Over the last few years, the young Marquises have begun to regain this aspect of their rich culture that had almost vanished during that time. When the first Europeans entered Polynesia after having sailed halfway around the globe, they were immediately fascinated by this charming country, which seemed to them like a vanished Garden of Eden.
This particular legend is mainly due to Louis-Antoine de Bougainville, whose widely distributed works made history all over Europe, especially A in 1771 (A Flower Around the World). This is how Bougainville puts Polynesia: Idyllically naked, this unveiled a fascinating speciality: a tattoo. This is how Bougainville puts it: Europeans quickly learnt that tattooing represents a powerful and affirmative form of identification, with different designs and colors indicating not only the carrier's own personalities and identities, but also his own personalities, his or her own personalities, his or her own socio-political situation, and so on.
Tattoo " was first used by the British James Cook (1728-1779). It described a tradition named "tattow" from the Polish expression "tatau" - which means "to beat or to beat (ta) with a utensil (au)". Some adventuresome yachtsmen tried it and came back to Europe newly got a tattoo. In Polynesia satirically tattooings were a symbol of affirmative societal differentiation; in Europe, because they were first adopted by seamen, sex workers and prisoners, they quickly became associated with margins and had bad connections. y At the end of the 19th century, the tattoo was a symbol for a better world.
From the 1970s and 1980s, with the evolution of ideas such as "alterity" and "otherness", the younger generation has begun a revitalisation of their identities, in which tattooing is one of the most important of all. Polynesia's botanical ink drawings and drawings by the famous anthropologist and researcher Karl von der Steinen (1855-1929), who created more than 400 Marquesan ink drawings, helped to rediscover the area.
These discoveries gave new impetus to his work in the 80s and today his drawings are circulating in Polynesia and on the web and are regarded as reference works. Due to medical problems, Marquesan tattoo artists no longer use the old hand held tattoo techniques, but a diemograph. Most tattoo artists can no longer live off the shop and have to alternate with the tourist, sculptures and so on.
Nowadays tattooists can select their own messages by allowing the tattoo artist to interprete and transliterate and seek a delicate equilibrium between old habits and ceremonies and a new socio-economic state. While some look back at their origins to reclaim the arts of their predecessors, others give free rein to their creative powers and integrate old models with newer styles to meet the needs of an unequal and multi-cultural customer base.