Moko, the art of nature.
Moko the art of tattooing is practiced by Maori of Aotearoa, New Zealand. New Zealand Maori since colonisation have battled to hold onto their ancestral pride. The Moko is a signature of their ancestry. I decided to document the, ceremony, art, and life of the contemporary Maori Moko, not as just as a visual reference of what Ta Moko looked like, but a true living record of Whanu, (family), Whakapapa, (lineage), and Whakairo, (to ornament with a pattern, art). To approach this project on a sensitive and emotional level. The meaning of Ta Moko, as a representation of identity, for contemporary Maori in todays world. For the Mokopuna (children) of today to follow through there heritage, and to rediscover their identity of "self".