Terry Koloamatangi is an artist and tattooist. The main focus of his work is the revitalization of customary Tongan Tātatau i.e the tattooing that was practiced across the islands of Tonga at the time of the first contact with Europeans. 

The first teacher in tattooing was Sāmoan Tufunga Tātatau, Su'a Suluape Paulo II. 

Under Paulo's guidance, we spearheaded the revival of Tongan Tātatau in 1999 when Paulo started a tattoo on me based on an 1839 illustration of a tattooed Tongan man. Sadly he was killed before we completed the work. From that point, spent several years researching customary Tongan Tātatau.

currently working on a three-part video project that discusses various aspects of Tongan Tātatau through a Tongan lense. The project is a series of Talanoa with Tongan knowledge holders, artists, academics, and people who wear Tongan Tātatau. The first of these videos Talanoa will be released online during Tongan Language week 2020. 

The next steps to focus on tattooing more Tongans with our traditional tattooing tools (hand tap) this carries forward the work that I started with Su'a Suluape Paulo started back in 1999. Live interview with John Pulu

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