Manu Farrarons is a tattoo artist of Polynesian descent. He is also a living legend in the inked world. Manu is practicing his traditional type of skin art for over 25 years now.
He was born in France in 1967 and grew up in Tahiti, French Polynesia. Farrarons is one of the most renowned tribal artists in the world today. He is currently operating in his own studio called Mana’o Tattoo.
Manu does his own special take on traditional Polynesian freehand design tattoos. Seems like his goal is to always create unique designs. They should be “perfectly fitted to each person, according to his desires, background and life story”.
Manu Farrarons Style and Heritage
Polynesian symbols are also deeply meaningful and very rich in metaphors. Manu always has a brief interview session with every single one of his clients. Furthermore, he speaks to them in order to determine what they want their tattoo to represent.
The tattoo artist collaborates with the client in every step of the creative process. The tattoo session is a highly spiritual event. Both artist and receiver go a long way before they reach the final result.
Manu Farrarons’ art is a beautiful mix of authentic traditional Polynesian styles and designs. As a result, his style is heavily influenced by traditional arts. His approach is very specific. Seems like it is derived mostly from Tahitian and Marquesan native art. Also, he adds often Māori and Hawaiian impact. As a result, Manu is fluent in other black-and-grey styles as well. He also loves tattooing in Japanese traditional aesthetics.
How It All Began
Manu was born in 1967 in Cholet, France. His mother was a painter. His father was a tattoo artist. Little Manu spent his childhood in Tahiti. He was immersed in Polynesian life and culture. Young Manu started drawing at a very early age. Even then he was into traditional Tahitian and Marquesan designs.
His father opened the first professional tattoo shop in Tahiti. After his death, he passed it down to his son Manu. The son picked up the trade and started tattooing when he was 15 years old.
Career
Right after finishing high school, Manu studied to become a school teacher. Soon after that, he started working as one. During his time as a teacher, he also increased his knowledge of Polynesian designs.
His research leads him to both Tahiti and Hawaii. There he worked on anthropological archives stored at the Bishop Museum of Honolulu.
Manu has been tattooing professionally since 1991. He left his teaching job in order to fulfill his greater passion – art. Drawing and traditional Polynesian tattooing brought new horizons to his life and career.
He took over his father’s tattoo shop in Papeete, Tahiti. Soon after that, he renamed it to Mana’o Tattoo. “Mana’o” means “an idea”, “knowledge” or ”thought” in the Tahitian language.
Here are some fine examples of Manu Farrarons remarkable tattoo art.
