At the Nepal Inked – A Tattoo and Lifestyle Convention held at the Exhibition Hall at Bhrikuti Mandap, 40 Nepali and 30 international tattoo artists have gathered together to exchange ideas and learn from each other. “Tattoo culture is booming everywhere and Nepal is seeing advancements too. The international artists agree that the country has a lot of art to give out,” says Spandan Moktan from the organizing committee.[break]
Tattoo artists in Nepal have humble beginnings; most of them speak about how they learnt the art by themselves with their helpful friends as trial and error using handmade machines. Almost a decade in the profession, Raju Bajracharya’s earliest machine was also handmade.
Bajracharya of Yala Ink in Patan remembers using the ink from Pilot pen, the body of the pen, fabric color and sewing needle as the most basic components of the machine. “With no idea where and how to purchase a professional machine, it was the closest we came to a tattoo machine and it worked for us,” he says.
Aspiring tattoo artists now have it much easier as they can conveniently purchase a good tattoo machine to learn the basics. Jads Tattoo’s John Maharjan bought his first machine from Cyprus. The 27-year-old tattoo artist has over a decade of experience in the field and says, “We actually have a long culture of tattoos in our country, especially in the Newar and the Tamang community. But with the slow rise of negative connotations regarding the practice, people started overlooking tattoos. Suddenly it only became associated with drug addicts and goons.”
When people like John and Raju began exploring and learning about the art, there were only a handful of people who were supportive of and interested in what they were doing. As Raju says, “Many people didn’t even know what tattoos were then.” Over the years as the popularity of tattoos began to spread, acceptance also slowly set in. Now, John states, “The culture is growing fast and getting bigger.”
The rising popularity of tattoos means that the tattoo studios have also multiplied over the years. And conventions like this help the artists learn from each other and the visiting artists who bring with them their own set of skill and expertise. Conventions are mediums for aspirants to get direct interaction opportunities from the veterans. General queries from the public also get answered at such events. However, Nepal still lacks a conventional tattoo training and learning environment.
“A father wanted to know how safe getting inked is, and about the possible infections as his son wanted a tattoo. So, this is a helpful meeting point for artists as well as people interested in tattoos,” sums up Ajay Rumba, tattoo artist from Jads Tattoo. According to him, this could also lead to a chance for artists to visit international conventions and hence get more exposure.
Nepal’s tattoo artists are next planning on building a tattoo society. Outlining the main idea, John states, “We want to set it up within a year and we will include all the tattoo artists from Nepal. Our goal is to build a set of guidelines and also certify the artists.”
The profession has also turned lucrative; some artists charge by the hour and some according to the complexity of the design, and they see themselves in the profession for the long haul. Tike Jhyau’s Sabita Maharjan informs that on an average it will cost Rs 1,500 for a tattoo. The 22-year-old artist learnt the trade from her husband, Pralhad Shrestha, who has been involved in the art for nine years now. Sabita, who has put in her longest hours for a 3D star tattoo, which took seven hours to complete, is planning on studying the craft further. “The money’s pretty good and there are young people who get into the profession because of how well one can earn,” she remarks.
Tattoos, music and more at Nepal Inked
KATHMANDU, Oct 19: A merging of tattoos, art workshops, music concerts and stalls selling merchandise, Nepal Inked- A Tattoo and Lifestyle Convention at the Exhibition Hall of Bhrikuti Mandap, is concluding today. Organized by Kgarira, Eleven11 and Jads Tattoo, the three-day event, which started from October 18, hosted 70 artists from Nepal and countries like Germany, Spain, India, Poland, among others.
Other attractions of the event include bike and skateboard stunts, vintage auto exhibition and body suspension. Tattoo competitions were also organized for each day of the competition. A tattoo seminar by Paulo Cruzes and Piotr Olejnik is to be conducted today. Cruzes will be instructing about machine tuning and building whereas Olejnik will be giving a workshop on the color and realism in tattoos.
The entry for the event is priced at Rs 100.