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MASSEY is published by Massey University, Private Bag 11-222, Palmerston North, New Zealand

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MASSEY has a circulation of 75,000.

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Ta moko

Painter, Designer, Consultant
Julie Kipa Masters in Mäori Visual Arts

Ta moko has undergone a quiet resurgence over the last decade, with increasing numbers of Mäori seeking traditional moko and more practitioners performing the art.

The first national ta moko committee, Te Uhi, was established just over a year ago. Committee member and ta moko practitioner Julie Kipa would like to see greater numbers of young Mäori embrace and wear facial moko, the traditional form of Mäori tattoo, in everyday life.

“I think it’s really important because it’s so personal – so visible. It’s an important expression that Mäori won’t let their identity be sub-served.

“It’s the language too. It’s a language of Mäori recognition. In some ways it’s more powerful than what is commonly under-stood as language because it can’t be taken away from you.”

While increasing numbers of Mäori are seeking moko, Julie thinks many are choosing to wear it on their bodies, hidden beneath clothing, rather than on their faces. She believes a shift in attitude is needed before Mäori feel strong enough to project the full facial moko again.

Despite its resurgence, social connotations associated with modern tattoo can reflect negatively on moko. Julie takes the example of tattoo’s association with gang membership. She says for Mäori members of underground groups such as gangs, tattoo was a form of rebellion or reaction to losing their traditional moko and culture.

“Ta moko died out in the 1840s to 1860s. By the ’60s it was not practised anymore. It was being discouraged in favour of cultural assimilation. Men’s faces disappeared first, then women’s. The body was last.”

Goldie’s portraits of the 1900s have immortalized Mäori of the time with full face moko. While these portraits have preserved a time in Mäori history, they have also been charged with creating images of a people through a colonial perspective.

Some have argued that those early images and stereotypic ideas of Mäori and moko have carried through into today’s media, bringing the question of ownership and intellectual property rights both in New Zealand and internationally.

“People don’t think about what it means to Mäori. They don’t look at the impact of media misrepresentations on the community,” Julie says.

Julie was teaching art in Ruatoria in 1992 when she became aware of the growing interest in ta moko. While studying anthropology at Massey in 1986, she met her husband and business partner, Rangi Kipa, who was interested in exploring moko. “We started the journey together,” she says.

With four Massey qualifications, Julie has experience as a Mäori art teacher and lecturer, and has a broad interest in Mäori art development. She has also been an exhibiting artist, writer, commentator and curator for Mäori art development. Central to this work, Julie and her husband run their own New Plymouth business ArtMäori Ltd which also has an in-house ta moko studio.

There was a demand for women ta moko artists and Julie says she graduated from preparation and skin stretching to being a practitioner. “It was just naturally an extension of my art.”

Traditionally ta moko artists came from a carving background. Julie says she draws upon her design knowledge and thinks it has helped to be part of a husband-and-wife ta moko team.

Significant moko – those that are extensive and carry an important story deeply connected to a person’s genealogy – are traditionally done at the marae. However, Julie says studios are increasingly being encouraged for health reasons.

She says practitioners now use a mixture of traditional tools and their own fashioned needles. The fine needles are similar to the ones used in standard tattooing and allow for more detailed elaboration of traditional designs.

But, she says, today’s challenge is for Mäori to choose whether or not to accept moko. And with the national committee moving into its second year, Julie hopes it can not only establish and set standards of health and safety best practice, but also proactively develop ta moko knowledge and standards of excellence.

“The growth in 10 years is really significant. Now artists are practising for a living and are a lot more confident. The national committee is now looking at how we will take ta moko into the future. It is not going to go away.”