Customer Reviews

Samoan Art & Artists: O Measina a Samoa

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Interesting book with many illustrations that covers most areas of Samoan Arts. Much of the information seems to have been gathered from other books (which in turn copied from even earlier books) - as a result mistakes in those books are copied over into this one. I showed the section on traditional tattoo to my tufuga tatau (his family have handed down the skills and knowledge over the generations) and much is true but some is just nonsense. This is one of the problems with information that has been translated between german, english and samoan and copied and rewritten a few times.

This is one of my favorite Polynesian books and it is loaded with beautiful color images and richly detailed explanations of Samoan craftsmanship. The chapters on Tatatau & Fale construction are my personal favorite. The canoe building section is very interesting but is also disappointingly short. In fact, if I had to point out one grievance it is that most of the chapters are under 16-pages, and just when you are getting excited about the subject you arrive at a premature ending, only to discover something else that is fascinating about this very advanced culture.

If you are unfamiliar with Samoan craftsmanship, it is arguably some of the finest in all of Polynesia. Their Tattoo masters were in demand as far away as Fiji & Tonga, and the process of the Pe'a is intimately described. Their fales, or houses, are a true masterpiece providing a 360-degree view of nature and consisting of an intricate assembly of specific materials tied together with coconut fiber that has been died and woven into geometric patterns. There are also some amazing photos of highly advanced weapons.

Chapters include:
1) The Samoan Arts
2) Pottery & Stonework
3) Tufuga Fauva'a: The Canoe Builders
4) Tufuga Faifale: The Master House Builders
5) Siapo Makers (free-hand painted tapa cloth)
6) Weaving
7) Woodwork & Sculpture
8) Tufuga Tatatau: The Master Tattooists
9) Painting & Folk Art
10) Oratory
11) Theater
12) Photography & Filmmaking
13) Fagogo & Literature
14) Adornments
15) Costume & Garments
16) Tourist Art
17) Music & Dance

There is also a killer primary source bibliography woth roughly 150 entries. I love this book & highly recommend it.