TATAU: SYMMETRY, HARMONY, AND BEAUTY IN THE ART OF SĒMISI FETOKAI POTAUAINE

Authors

Kolokesa Uafā Māhina-Tuai, Vava‘u Academy for Critical Inquiry and Applied Research and Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial MuseumFollow

Abstract

Tatau: Symmetry, Harmony, and Beauty in the Art of Sēmisi Fetokai Potauaine is generally informed by the tā-vā (time-space) theory of art and Tongan ethnography. This paper will look specifically at the body of works created by Potauaine for his exhibition Tatau: Fenāpasi ‘oe Fepaki / Tatau: Symmetry, Harmony, and Beauty held at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK, from July to October 2010. This exhibition and its associated catalog of which I was cocurator and coeditor, respectively, included ten multimedia works ranging from tufunga tākupesi (graphic designing), tufunga tātongitongi (sculpture), and tufunga tākohikupesi (sculptural drawings). Potauaine’s creative process involves the mediation of kohi–vā (line–space) intersections. This process is a result of using the concept and practice of tatau (symmetry) as an artistic device-creating works of art that possesses potupotutatau (harmony) and faka‘ofo‘ofa (beauty).

Recommended Citation

Māhina-Tuai, Kolokesa Uafā (2017) "TATAU: SYMMETRY, HARMONY, AND BEAUTY IN THE ART OF SĒMISI FETOKAI POTAUAINE," Pacific Studies Journal: Vol. 40: No. 1, Article 12.
Available at: https://digitalcollections.byuh.edu/pacific-studies-journal/vol40/iss1/12