Inia Taylor: Meeting with Paulo Sulu’ape
Maori artist Inia Taylor, who has been taught by Paulo Sulu’ape, tell about his encounter with the master.
In England, Inia heard for the first time about the Samoan tattoo artist Paulo Sulu’ape, who lived in New Zealand and was tragically murdered in 1999. "I realized he tattooed five people on my street. It took quite a while to meet him, because he wasn't easy to meet. He was quite suspicious. He said to me, 'Don't see me in the shop, see me at home.' There I was,
sitting next to him on the couch. He said nothing. I handed him some magazines and some articles. Then he realized who I was and what I had done. He had seen Once Were Warriors [movie for which Inia drew the Maori tattoos]. He said, 'Oh, it was you!'"
The wall of Sulu’ape's house was covered with many photographs. "Right in the middle of it I saw a picture of my great great grandfather, Weremu Te Manawha," says Inia. "I said to Paulo, 'What are you doing
with a picture of my great great grandfather on the wall?' He answered, 'It was given to me at the Maori queen's residence. Weremu Te Manawha was one of the last Maori tattooists.' I said, 'I know.' He said, 'Where have you been all this time?' He had been trying to find Maoris to start teaching the traditional tools to, but he didn't know where they were. Luckily, he trusted me. He taught
me all the traditional techniques. Nobody knew that he was also a really amazing artist with machines. He could draw incredible portraits of people. He was also a great painter. He was driven from a lot of angles. He taught me how to work with tattoo machines and how to make them. We made a whole lot of tattoo machines together."
When Inia met Paulo Sulu’ape, he was still working in the film industry. He continued to see him during the
weekends. Inia tells how Sulu’ape reacted. "He asked me, 'Inia, do you, Maori, take your tattoos off during the weekend?' I answered, 'No. I wear them all week.' He said, 'Why are you asking something from the people you tattoo that is more than you are asking of yourself?' What he meant was, how can you ask these people to give their bodies and skin 24 hours a day if you are only interested in doing this during the
weekends. At that point there was nothing I could say. So I asked, 'What can we do about it?' He said, 'You can open a shop so that anybody can come and ask you questions. You would be in the same place, every day, every week, and you are accountable for your actions. You will not be moving around and tattooing in different places. You ought to have an honorable place where this could happen.' So, in 1988,
I started the first dedicated Maori tattoo shop in the world, Moko Ink, in Auckland, North Island. Today, I devote all my time to tattooing, although I sometimes work as an art director for movies."
Excerpt of an interview by By Rik van Boeckel