Practice and Form

Although the practice and form are invented or imported from outside Tahiti and interpreted within contemporary social contexts, it is not the case that globalization and ethnic cultural movement have taken over Tahitian tattooing. Close analysis of the practice and form of tattooing discloses the nature of the contemporary development of tattooing and the localization of globalized cultural activities in Tahiti. This chapter introduces basic characteristics of the practice of tattooing and tattoo forms. Shading and coloring are techniques that have been introduced into Tahitian tattooing from European and Japanese tattooing. Tattoo designs are shaded by flat needles with ink that has been diluted with water. Tahitians, especially tattooists and tattooed people, differentiate tattoo forms using different categorical terms such as style, design and motif. The chapter explains the general use of these terms in Tahiti. Most Tahitian and Marquesan tattooists are sceptical about anthropological and ethnological works on tattooing.