MIXED MEDIA
Examining tattoos as art, culture

By Michael Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

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'Skin Stories' Events Saturday Premiere Screening: Includes Q&A with filmmakers Lisa Altieri and Emiko Omori, and tattoo artists Lesa Moli and Keone Nunes; wine and dessert reception; 7 p.m., Doris Duke at the Academy, Honolulu Academy of Arts. $50. Call 589-2407 or e-mail skinstories@hawaii.rr.com for tickets. Sunday Family Sunday at the Bishop Museum: Panel discussion ("The Meaning of Tattoo in Modern Polynesia") with Lisa Altieri, Emiko Omori, Lesa Moli and Keone Nunes; demonstration of traditional Samoan and Hawaiian tattooing; arts, crafts and children's activities; 1 to 3 p.m., Bishop Museum. Cost: $3 per person or $10 per family of four. Tickets available at the museum. "Skin Stories": Initial airing on PBS Hawaii, 9:30 p.m. Encore presentation, 1 p.m. May 18.

"Skin Stories," a co-production of Pacific Islanders in Communications and KPBS (San Diego), airs at 9:30 p.m. Sunday on PBS Hawaii. A special screening of the one-hour documentary also will be held at 7 p.m. Saturday in the Doris Duke theater, Honolulu Academy of Arts.

The documentary examines the cultural history of the tattoo, from its origins in the Pacific islands to its spread worldwide.

PIC executive director Carlyn Tani said the documentary offers valuable insight into the deeper meanings of the tattoo at a time when its popularity in the West has reduced its significance from art and culture to fad and fashion.

"A lot of people don't realize that tattoo has such deep roots in the Pacific, which really is the cradle of tattoo and the launching pad for tattoo traveling to the West," she said.

"Skin Stories" focuses on the cultural exchange of tattooing between the Pacific and the West through the personal stories of tattoo artists and the people who wear their craft on their skin.

A number of Hawai'i residents are featured in the documentary, including kumu hula Frank Kawaikapuokalani Hewett, Hawaiian tattoo artist Keone Nunes, Maui County fire captain Kyle Nakanelua and Tongan tattooist Aisea Toetu'u.

"Tattoo has always been a way of remembering and expressing personal history, values, beliefs and philosophies, as well as paying tribute to one's background," said Lisa Altieri, who co-produced the special with Emiko Omori.

"Certain people's lives seem to be better off when they are able to attach closely with a culture," she said. "Since we're dealing with Polynesia, and Polynesian identity has been such a tumultuous issue in the last 100 years, I felt this is a way of examining the reclamation of a culture."

The special highlights the revival and evolution of the art throughout the Pacific. It shows traditional ceremonies in Samoa, where body tattooing, or pe'a, is performed using boar's teeth. It also visits with Manu Leilani Neho, a 45-year-old Maori who bears a traditional tattoo on her chin.

In Hawai'i, the documentary looks at the ways in which some tattoo artists now meld Polynesian designs with symbols from other cultures, and how other Hawaiians are opting for traditional designs created with traditional tools.

Light on narration, the documentary relies heavily on its subjects to convey their own messages.

"It's the voices of the people themselves that you connect with," Omori said.