Pacific tattoo artist takes away supreme arts awards
An artist who has tattooed some of New Zealand's most well-known sportspeople, including Sonny Bill Williams, has taken away the top award at one of New Zealand's longest running Pacific art awards.
Transcript
An artist who has tattooed some of New Zealand's most well-known sportspeople, including Sonny Bill Williams, has taken away the top award at one of New Zealand's longest running Pacific art awards.
The Arts Pasifika Awards celebrate excellence and innovation in Pacific arts and were held in Wellington this week.
Amelia Langford attended.
Auckland-based tattoo artist Steve Ma Ching, who is of Samoan and Chinese descent, claimed the top award for his contribution to reviving the art of Polynesian tatau.
STEVE MA CHING: I started tattooing in times when tattooing was shunned upon and it was sort of like a hidden art. So from going from there to 33 years later and getting an award, you know.
Steve Ma Ching has tattooed a range of people including designing and tattooing a sleeve for All Black Sonny Bill Williams. He says Sonny Bill is the biggest ambassador for his work.
STEVE MA CHING: I can't thank him enough. He has taken that Polynesian tattoo and exposed it to the world. What better advertising could you have?
Among the other winners, South Auckland-based poet and spoken word artist, Grace Taylor, received the 'emerging artist' award. She identifies as Afakasi or of mixed heritage and her work draws on her experience as half Samoan, half English.
Playwright Victor Rodger, who was awarded the 'contemporary artist' award last year, accepted Taylor's award on her behalf as she is attending Edinburgh's International Scottish Storytelling Festival as a guest poet. Rodger is also Afakasi and says he finds Grace Taylor's work inspiring.
VICTOR RODGER: She really does create a space for us as Afakasi. That's something that I have done with my work as a playwright and that is why I respect what she does - because it is a very different space for us.
A year on from his own award, Victor Rodger says it has meant a lot for his work to be recognised as he says it is not everyone's cup of tea. Victor Rodger says he is proud of the impact Pasifika artists are making on the world stage.
VICTOR RODGER: As Pacific Island artists we consistently punch above our weight and particularly in terms of the level of funding we get...We are world class. I am not saying that in an arrogant way or a biased way. I just think we are it. We are creating really good work that is absolutely world class.
Assistant vice chancellor of Pasifika at Victoria University, Luamanuvao Winnie Laban, is a Pacific representative on the Arts Council of New Zealand.
Ms Laban says the awards are an opportunity to honour the contribution Pasifika artists make to New Zealand's cultural identity.
WINNIE LABAN: The heart of our arts is culture and it is about heritage and it is about contemporary and this is a wonderful opportunity for us to say thank you and to celebrate our Pacific artists in all the genres and art forms that they contribute to.
New Zealand's Arts Pasifika Awards are the only national awards that recognise emerging and established Pasifika artists across a range of art forms.
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