Anoo te kiri, me te anuhe tawatawa ngaa mahi aa te kauri.
Look at the skin, the abundance of tattooing is like the markings on the skin of a mackerel!
Taa Moko tells a story...
"It’s centred on our identity and our means of communication, the symbols are carried everywhere across different art forms, such as carving. Moko marks important events and membership – it tells a story” Julie
July 27 2017 Focus Magazine pages 55-57
Image courtesy of UNO magazine 2013
Taa Moko Sessions: Julie Paama-Pengelly
Taa moko artist Julie Paama Pengelly talks about the challenges she's faced in a male-dominated industry and why she doesn't believe in ‘Kirituhi’ as a valid positioning of the practice and ideas around ‘non-traditional’ taa moko.
Te toroa aa tai
Always at the forefront of contemporary developments of customary Taa Moko practice, Julie has spent the last ten years investigating the skin marking technique of tapping the uhi or toothed comb-like tool - to insert ink under the skin. This research extends to an investigation and sharing of other indigenous historic practices.
Moko puuhoro aa waahine
This tradition belongs to waahine Maaori as well as taane. Julie is a proponent of this form of taa moko for men and women.
Moko kauae
Moko kauae is currently enjoying a renaissance although in some Maaori communities there is still hesitation to adopt such visible form of moko. My hope is that we overcome the hurdles and often self-imposed barriers that often prevent individuals taking up this taonga.
He kaakahu aa waahine
A contemporary placement of a kaakahu which protects the recipient in many ways that a customary kaakahu would, with the mantle of her tupuna.
