Sun. April 26

Last call! Has the Peabody Essex Museum turned into a tattoo parlor? Hardly ... although we can't think of anything less shocking than tattoos. We interviewed Cher back in the '90s and she was talking about shedding almost all of hers because they'd become so common. And, now that Massachusetts has joined the rest of the country and legalized the things ... Lordy! Next thing, you know, they'll open the packies on Sunday! But we digress. And here's something about tattoos you may not know (I didn't) and may want to see: The Museum has a show called "Body Politics: Maori Tattoo Today" up through Sunday April 26. Subtitled "Visions in blood and ink" it's an exhibition not of, oh, American bikers and girls gone bad, but of moko, the facial and body tattooing of Maori, New Zealand's indigenous people.

 Sun. April 26

Last call! Has the Peabody Essex Museum turned into a tattoo parlor? Hardly ... although we can't think of anything less shocking than tattoos. We interviewed Cher back in the '90s and she was talking about shedding almost all of hers because they'd become so common. And, now that Massachusetts has joined the rest of the country and legalized the things ... Lordy! Next thing, you know, they'll open the packies on Sunday! But we digress. And here's something about tattoos you may not know (I didn't) and may want to see: The Museum has a show called "Body Politics: Maori Tattoo Today" up through Sunday April 26.  Subtitled "Visions in blood and ink" it's an exhibition not of, oh, American bikers and girls gone bad, but of moko, the facial and body tattooing of Maori, New Zealand's indigenous people.

The museum has 30 large-format portraits by award-winning photographer Hans Neleman and related 19th-century and contemporary Maori woodcarvings explore this tattoo tradition. Here we go to some thoughts from PEM's assistant curator of Native American Art, Karen Kramer Russell: For hundreds of years, Maori moko has been an expression of personal history, pride, social and tribal identity, and whakapapa (ancestry). Until 1962, moko was a forbidden art, revitalized by the Maori to counter laws denying them access to their lands, language, customs and beliefs. Complex and distinctive, these curvilinear, monochromatic tattoos are marks of prestige and honor for Maori men and women.
"This exhibition explores the design and inspiration of a rich and living culture," said Kramer Russell. "Hans Neleman's sublime compositions and sensitive, intelligent approach to portraiture invite us to explore the Maori culture that embodies the art."
The decision to wear moko is a major commitment and involves the subject's family and iwi (tribe). Enhancing the contours of the face and body, each moko design is unique, belonging to the individual physically and intellectually, and may take years to create. Kimiora Ereatara Hohua shared part of her story with Neleman: "The bottom of the design [on my chin] represents my mountains, the sides my whakapapa, the curls at my lips my children, and the top spirals each side of my family."

"Each image represents the strength and pride of Maori triumphing over an inequitable past," said Hans Neleman. "They reveal majestic faces marked with permanent lines - lines of sacred heritage, of cultural commitment, of visual poetry and of personal pain. It is the revival of a tradition, the promise of Maori future inspired by the beauty of Maori past." Admission: $15. The museum is open daily 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.

East India Square, Salem, 866-745-1876  www.pem.org.