On November 3 at the Grand Théâtre de la Maison de la culture will be a screening of the documentary “Patutiki, the art of tattooing in the Marquesas Islands”, in a remastered version with a view to conquering international markets and festivals. A film which received the audience award at FIFO 2019, and whose making-of entitled “Ata Vii Henua” will be screened during the same evening. Meeting with one of its directors, Heretu Tetahiotupa.
Heretu Tetahiotupa, 30 years old, director, tattoo artist and musician, is, with Christophe Cordier, behind this documentary which is a dive into the heart of the culture of the Terre des hommes and more particularly tattooing, or Patutiki. A documentary on which they worked for two years and scoured a good part of the 14 islands that make up the Marquesan archipelago in order to capture the very essence of this ancestral art. For this evening of November 3, it is not a simple rebroadcast of this documentary presented in 2019, but a remastered version “in 4k” with revised colorimetry. The objective of this work, carried out in the studios of Sony Pictures in California: to conquer international markets and why not be sold to streaming platforms. An American version has also been shot, with Samoan actors to do the dubbing, explains Heretu Tetahiotupa.
Patutiki, with its reconstruction scenes which allow novices to apprehend the tattoo of the “Terre des Hommes” in all its spirituality, had a well-deserved success when it was released. The documentary caused a sensation at Fifo 2019, and attracted attention during its television broadcast… But it is more broadly the Marquesan tattoo that is arousing a certain enthusiasm in the West. Many artists, football stars, and other people wear these patterns without anyone having ever set foot on the archipelago or even sometimes in the Pacific. Why such a success ? For Heretu, it is obvious, “they are magic”. And argue “These symbols were developed over thousands of years by tuhuna patutiki, shamans, who invoked the deities to practice this art and so they forged these symbols into magic. (…) this magic, even if we no longer use this word, even if we do not see it, it is still active. And that’s what makes these tattoos intriguing and successful today. »
Far from criticizing what could be called “cultural appropriation”, Heretu assures us that “For us Marquesans, we are proud to see people outside wearing our symbols (…) The Marquesan tattoo is an inclusive art that is shared, it is not something that has the function of separating, and what it expresses is universal. »
| “Patutiki, the art of tattooing from the Marquesas Islands”, a documentary directed by Heretu Tetahiotupa and Christophe Cordier and produced by Les Studio Hashtag, Eka Eka Productions, Association Patutiki, Sidélia Guirao and France Télévisions. On November 3 at 6 p.m. at the Grand Théâtre of the Maison de la Culture de Tahiti. Reservations in the four Carrefours stores (Arue / Faaa / Punaauia / Taravao), at Radio 1 and Tiare FM (Fare Ute) or online at www.ticketpacific.pf. |
“The Marquesan tattoo is an inclusive art that is shared” – Radio1 Tahiti