Paiwan Tattoo Artist Revives Once-Forbidden Traditional Technique

TaiwanPlus News

Cudjuty Patjidres, Taiwan’s last traditional tattoo artist, works to revive a once-forbidden technique. To celebrate the art form’s return, traditional tattoo artists from across the Pacific have gathered at a festival on Taiwan’s east coast.

Transcript

00:00Toji Pachires, a member of Taiwan's indigenous Paiwan community,

00:05has been practicing traditional hand-tapping tattoo techniques for about a decade.

00:10He is the last artist in the country keeping this art form alive.

00:15This technique uses a chisel and striking stick to hammer ink into the skin.

00:20It disappeared during the Japanese colonial era after being stigmatized.

00:25The Japanese empire declared that the tattoos were not beautiful.

00:30Originally, a machine tattoo artist,

00:33Toji's journey to hand-tapped tattooing,

00:35began after attending an international tattoo convention in New Zealand.

00:39The first time I met with the traditional traditional haircuts,

00:44I saw what is called a painting.

00:48I saw that they were doing a painting,

00:52and I realized that in Taiwan,

00:56the traditional haircuts are also like this.

00:59I was very careful to watch and learn.

01:04Then, when I returned to Taiwan,

01:06I started to paint,

01:08to paint,

01:09to paint,

01:10and then the equipment,

01:11to make the painting,

01:12to make the painting,

01:13to make the painting,

01:14to make the painting,

01:15to make the painting,

01:16to make the painting.

01:17Rediscovering this tradition,

01:18and owning the necessary skills,

01:19took to do years.

01:21To celebrate the revival of this ancient tradition in Taiwan,

01:36artists from across the Pacific,

01:47including Hawaii, the Philippines, and New Zealand,

01:50were invited to the Tattoo Waves Festival on Taiwan's East Coast.

01:54These Austronesian communities share cultural roots with indigenous people in Taiwan,

01:59including body art traditions.

02:01One is to celebrate Taiwan's native people,

02:06and the island people,

02:07to make the new knowledge and knowledge of their ancestors alive.

02:10One is to celebrate Taiwan's native people,

02:11and the knowledge of their ancestors,

02:12and their faith.

02:13One is to thank Taiwan for their support and knowledge,

02:16Thank you so much for that, and thank you for keeping this knowledge and技術

02:21that Taiwan can be able to learn again from the Pacific Islands.

02:28With the event in its second year,

02:30huge crowds from Taiwan and other countries gathered at the festival

02:34to witness the once-forbidden art being openly practiced again.

02:38So many of us within the Pacific look to Taiwan as one of the homelands,

02:43through the Austronesian lineage and practice and culture.

02:47And, you know, we keep on going back into our history.

02:50There's no one homeland that we all come from.

02:53So we honor all of the connections that we have with the Pacific,

02:57and Taiwan is definitely one of those places that we want to maintain stronger relationships well into the future.

03:04The highlight of the event was the Awa ceremony,

03:14where the tattooists and recipients received blessings before the work began.

03:19Awa is very significant because it is a kinolawa, a body form of the god Kane.

03:27And for us, the tattoo god is Kanehekili, so it was another form of Kane.

03:34And by doing the Awa ceremony before we do the tattoos,

03:38it's invoking Kane to be present to guide our hands towards doing good work.

03:47For the tattooists at the festival, it's an important opportunity to share and exchange cultural traditions.

03:55I think for me, it's like a meeting together from different countries, different tribes.

04:05And a tattooist, a tattoo, you know, like a tattoo, how they do, and the pattern.

04:11Yeah, it's good to see.

04:14This event is not only meaningful for the artists, but also for the people who are receiving the tattoos.

04:23Especially Alibuso Makakalen, who is a descendant of an indigenous Somen.

04:29When she was getting inked, she says it felt like reconnecting with her ancestors.

04:34I'm very excited. I feel like I have a feeling back home.

04:37I want to slowly, slowly, slowly, to make what I have done.

04:41In the culture, the things that I haven't learned,

04:44will come back and start again.

04:46That means that I don't forget who I am.

04:49I don't forget who I am.

04:50I don't forget who I am.

04:51I live in there. I die in there.

04:53As the rhythm of hand-tapping once again echoes across the Pacific.

04:58Artists like Tsuzri are not just reviving an ancient craft.

05:02They are also reconnecting with the Austronesian spirit and bringing the tradition home.

05:07Luffy Lee and Tanichi for Tawan Plus.

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