The Blue Privilege
“The Blue Privilege - The Last Tattooed Maori Women” is a limited edition reprint, launched in association with “Te Kuia Moko” - an exhibition at Depot Artspace in 2019.
The original book, written by Harry Sangl, featuring his extraordinary painted portraits, was first published in 1980. It was launched at the time at Auckland Museum, to honour his subjects, women dignitaries bearing the Moko Kauae.
It was my privilege to recreate this historic work digitally, remaining completely true to the layout and typography of the original. All the paintings have been digitally reproduced in high resolution and everything, including the illustrated endpapers, have been faithfully reproduced.
It is a reproduction in entirety - the decision was made to use the original references to te reo Māori in the text, now considered incorrect, because it is a historical document. I was meticulous about reproducing the typography accurately - the modern digital version of the fonts used vary slightly from the original, but I made sure that paragraph blocks and line endings were as close as possible to the original.
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Publisher: Soar Print in association with Depot Artspace
Original Text & Artwork: Harry Sangl
Original Contributors: Merimeri Penfold & D.R. Simmons
Digital Reproduction Design: Stephen Canning
Binding: Bookbinding Press
Original Text & Artwork: Harry Sangl
Original Contributors: Merimeri Penfold & D.R. Simmons
Digital Reproduction Design: Stephen Canning
Binding: Bookbinding Press
Pride in Print Gold Medal: Publishing
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