As part of Art Attack the extension group took a deeper look at symbolism. We looked at the different cultures and the symbols tat represent them. They got inspired by the things that use to help them when times were rough like objects, animals, creatures and plants.
To give us some more information Mrs Tele'a brought in her husband to show us his Pe'a. We got to ask some questions about the process, his feelings, and more and more about the tattoo. One of us asked about the design and if he got to pick the design or if the tattooist designed it himself. The answer was the tattooist had studied his tribe and family and had a picture in his head that he had free styled on to his skin.
Since we had already been studying the subject we got a few minutes to work as a group and come up with some questions that we could ask him when he arrived here they are.
Questions and Answers:
- Josephine - Would you mind if your sons got a tatau too?
- Josephine - Which family did your tattoo?
- Ashlee - Did you ever have a moment where you didn't want to complete the process
- Ashlee - Was it a choice or a must.
- What did you want to do when you were getting your tattoo done?
- How long did it take to get it done?
1. He would be proud of his son if he got a Pe'a but it wouldn't be something he would force him to do as it's his choice. Another worry would be if he could handle the long process and the pain.
2. As their are two very famous families in Samoa that are known very well for doing tattoos we decided to ask who done his Pe'a. We found out that it was a guy named Tuifa'asisina Su'a. Which was part of the Su'a family.
3. Sometimes but he kept going because and unfinished Pe'a is called a Pe'a muku which is embarrassing to walk around with an unfinished Pe'a.
4. To find out if it was more a must by his parents and family or if he had chose to get his Pe'a done. Finding out our answer we discovered that he had chosen to get his Pe'a done.
5. Someone from our group had asked what he wanted to do when getting his tattoo done. He said that he just wanted it to be finished and over.
6. The process is quite long and one of their superstitions is that when getting a Pe'a done you must have a Partner, which is called a Soa to get the tattoo done with. Which made the process longer but the days it took to get his and his Soa Pe'a done was 17 days.
Here are some of the photos that we captured.
Back
Where the tattoo starts is called a canoe
Below is some patterns and designs.
Some represent things that helped them survive when times were tough also some sea creatures and other types of creatures. Also things that mean something to either them or their tribe.
For those who don't know what a Pe'a is it is a Samoan tattoo that goes from the belly button down to about their knees. The tattoo isn't just for Samoan men but also women can get them.
Front Legs
The tattoos are like a bat wrapped around you with patterns cause if you were to unwrap it of your body and place it on a paper it would look like a big picture.
