Tatau - Pe’a: Photographs by Mark Adams
The Ontario College of Art & Design Professional Gallery, (Toronto, Canada) is pleased to present this exhibition from Feb. 15 to May 18, 2008. The exhibition launches with an evening of conversation between Mark Adams and curator Peter Brunt, on Fri., Feb. 15, 6:30 pm.

Reinventing the wheel: The tattoo machine goes pneumatic
"Carson Hill is the inventor and developer of the first mass produced pneumatic tattoo machine, operated on air, not electrical motors or coils. So I took a little time to Chat with him about this latest evolution in the science of tattooing."

Andy Gubert
Germany has one of the highest ratios of tattoo shops in Europe and competition is fierce, according to Andy, tattoo culture in Germany is huge. Clients and enthusiasts range from all over the cultural spectrum. They even have their own version of Miami ink, "ein familie sticht zu" which loosely translates to "a family that pricks".

On the Road with Lyle Tuttle, Day 01
" Lyle Tuttle and I arrived in Beijing the Monday of the show. We were greeted by the organizer, Kisen at the airport with other artists and translators. A camera crew was rolling to document the event. At first it seemed a bit much, but to the Kisen and the tattooists of Beijing it is a momentous event."

On the Road with Lyle Tuttle, Day 02
"Jason Goo greeted us with Hailin Fu, one of China's most famous tattooists in Lyle's room minutes later bearing beautiful books of tattoo designs that he and his wife had made of his drawings. They contained hundreds of breathtaking illustrations based on Chinese mythology with the stories accompanying them"

China's tattoo revolution & the Dulong Tribe, Part 01
"China is a new world for modern electric tattooing which has only been around for about seven years. However, unknown to many in this industry, myself included, it has a rich history of traditional tattooing among the Dulong, a tribe in the mountain region near the border with Myanmar (formerly Burma) whose population numbers less than 8,000 people."

Chinas's tattoo revolution & the Government, Part 02
"If the government does not embrace it's history it will only hinder the development of the artform. I also pointed out that the government Director would be the one looked upon 50 years from now as helping to bring modern tattooing of chinese art to the world as another great part of chinese culture, which is already respected in the form of so many genres whether it is traditional art, paper cutting, architecture or even food."

A Conversation with John Long of Shanghai.
“I believe that people who love tattoo, whichever nation, race or color they belong to, are all effected by a most basic and primitive desire which causes them to love and admire tattoo. More specifically, on the basis of material enjoyment, human beings also wish for a bridge linking spirit and flesh, and tattoo is just the best way they can find to express themselves."

Beijing Tattoo Artist Dong Dong reflects- A Sense of Focus. "There is continuity in Chinese culture that is impossible for an outsider to truly comprehend. A sense of integration of race, time and culture resonates with all Chinese. It is a deeply personal feeling that non-Chinese can only experience intellectually, not emotionally. An ancient Chinese expression says, 'No matter how far from the land of our ancestors, we are still Chinese.' "

"Bangkok's Tattoo Arjan". "Life in Thailand is saturated with superstition. People are convinced that benevolent and sinister powers direct their destinies and a lot of time is dedicated to appealing to these powers for help and kindness. In Thailand the sacred and profane are completely intertwined and interdependent. For more than 300 years Thai men have visited with tattoo arjan (master), listened to the teachings and received tattoos in an effort to understand their destiny and exercise some control over it."

Jimmy Wong- Bangkok Past and Present and the Tattoos of Indochina. Part I
New articles by Mike McCabe in Asia.
" Today in Bangkok, Jimmy Wong works from his shop on Soi 5 at Sukhumvit Road in an atmosphere that is about as close as you are going to get to how it used to be when things were good in tattooing… before the avalanche of “Looky Loos” showed up."

Jimmy Wong - The Changing Face of Bangkok Tattoo Part II "There are more young men in Bangkok getting tattooed with magical tattoos,” Jimmy says. “They think this will improve the odds in their lives. They get a Gow Yod, the Seven Peaks tattoo as a first tattoo. It will make them bulletproof or un-cuttable by knives… Gang members in Bangkok are getting more bulletproof tattoos… The Bangkok chief of police asked tattoo arjan to stop giving young men bulletproof tattoo charms. He said the police are having a hard time to intimidate gang members. The gang members don’t care what the police say. A few months ago, the police shot a gang member many times but the kid got up and ran away. He wasn’t hurt… "

What do Angelina Jolie, Allen Iverson, Nicole Richie, The Rock, Paris Hilton, Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson have in common. Tattoos of course! And they made the "Top Twenty-Five Tattooed Celebrities in 2005"

Tattoo parlours to open in Canadian prisons
"VANCOUVER - Corrections Canada is planning to set up tattoo parlours in six federal prisons this year. Health officials hope the parlours will reduce the spread of infectious diseases, including hepatitis C." From the CBC online Mar 30/04

Traditional Japanese Tattooing
With Tattoo Master Kazuo Oguri.

Tattooing in Phnom Penh, Cambodia 2001 "When you walk the streets you are walking what was a genocidal battlefield during the 1970s when Pol Pot's insane regime of the Khmer Rouge terrorized the country. Phnom Penh's population of more than a million was drained and murdered to under 1000 people. People say when you pick up the soil here, you can squeeze the blood out of it. "

Noom tattoos South Bangkok 2001"In the old days people who got tattooed at a certain temple could identify others who got tattooed there too. They could see the particular work of an Arjan. They would identify with the others who got tattooed at the same temple. If you got into a fight in the street and saw the work of your Arjan, you would stop fighting immediately because you were in the same group"

A Sukhumvit tattooer in Bangkok, 2001
by Mike McCabe, NYC " A young woman who's nick name is Ouy tattoos on the notorious street called Sukhumvit in Bangkok, Thailand. Her spotless, sidewalk level booth is open to the hectic street. Huge, belching busses; tuk-tuk taxis and thousands of cars fly past a few feet from her small work area. Pedestrians with curious eyes stride past sneaking peaks at the modern tattoo flash she hangs neatly on her clean, white walls."

So, ya can't fight city hall?
Tony Dirego, of Chronic Tattoo Studio is doing just that. With the support of the ACLU and a precedent set by court rulings that tattoos are a right to freedom of expression Tattoo Artist Tony Dirego is fighting the good fight with the City of Cleveland over a 25 year olod ban on tattooing in the rockin city.

Japanese Tattooing from the Past to the Present
By Mieko Yamada - "The men of Wa tattoo their faces and paint their bodies with designs. They are fond of diving for fish and shells. Long ago they decorated their bodies in order to protect themselves from large fish. Later these designs became ornamental. Body painting differs among the various tribes. The position and size of the designs vary according to the rank of individuals.... They smear their bodies with pink and scarlet just as we Chinese use powder (Tsunoda and Goodrich, cited by Dalby, 1993: 22)."

Tattoo Safely: Infection control.
A collection of resources - the life you save may be your own.

The Arctic by Lars Krutak "Standing sentinel in the frozen waters of Bering Sea, St. Lawrence Island fosters a complex of remarkable tattooing traditions spanning 2000 years. Ancient maritime peoples from Asia first colonized this windswept outpost lured by vast herds of ivory-bearing walrus and other sea-mammals... these mariners attempted to harness their forbidding world by satisfying the spiritual entities that controlled it. Not surprisingly, tattooing became a powerful tool in these efforts: for at once the pigment was laid upon the skin, the indelible mark served as both protective shield and sacrifice to the supernatural."

Tattooed Brazil by Toni Marques. Toni Marques is a Brazilian journalist based in Rio de Janeiro. He has published a volume of short stories and a volume of poetry, and has also worked as a freelance journalist and scriptwriter for TV. His most recent book is O Brasil Tatuado e Outros Mundos (Tattooed Brazil and Other Worlds), published by Rocco in 1997.

The New York City Tattoo: The Origins of a Style
by Mike McCabe.

Enigma & Katzen
Based on interviews at the Houston Tattoo Convention (Jan. 18, 1996) and at Northern Ink Exposure, Toronto (June 21, 1999) Transcribed and edited by Steve Gilbert.

Tricia Allen interviews sideshow legend Capt. Don Leslie. Edited by Steve Gilbert.

The Tattoo History Source Book
Revised Author: Steve Gilbert. Now 21 chapters of Tattoo tales from various Artists and Historians. A must read for any serious Body-Art enthusiast.

An additional chapter of the "Tattoo History Source Book:
The Marshall Islands by Dirk H.R. Spennemann.

Tatau: The Tahitian Revival by Tricia Allen copyright 1998.