The Spirit of the Tattoo

I read this article about an exhibition, “Tattoo”, which was shown at the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris last year.Tattooing is a tradition that spans across virtually every culture, and has existed for thousands of years. The exhibition showcases the way that different cultures have used tattoos to identify, cure, respect, place honor, or shame a person who wears them. I found it to be an extremely interesting read, especially when thinking about what tattoos mean in our society today compared to what kinds of meanings they have embodied in other cultures and in the past.

To the left, a photograph of a woman in 1960 during Algeria’s war of independence. To the right, a woman tattooed according to tradition in the Philippines

Traditional Japanese Tattoo

German sailors in 1966

 

Article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/09/arts/international/capturing-the-spirit-of-the-tattoo.html?_r=2