Cultural Marks of the South Pacific

From August through December 2006, Amanda Fornal traveled through twenty islands in the South Pacific to study the history and cultural significance of body markings. She interviewed anthropologists, tattoo artists, cultural leaders, and people whose tattoos or scarification were connected to local traditions.

Her research and photography included work in Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, the Cook Islands, Rapa Nui, French Polynesia, the Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. The resulting archive documents tattooing, scarification, henna, and related traditions associated with identity, social status, rank, ceremony, family history, cultural affiliation, and personal expression.

In 2006, the Vanuatu Cultural Centre approved Amanda Fornal to conduct photographic research in Vanuatu. Her photographs documenting tattoos in the country were donated to the Vanuatu Cultural Centre.

The primary photographic archive is available through Blood & Ink.