CRI听力:Beijing Tattoo Convention Featuring Women

As the world evolves, so does the position of woman in society. This weekend women tattooists became the centre of attention during an international tattoo convention held in Beijing.

Nillah Nyakoa takes a look at how the tattoo industry has grown and how more and more women are getting involved in this once male dominated field.



It was a gathering that brought the tattoo world to Beijing this past weekend for artists to exchange knowledge and culture. At the 2010 Beijing Tattoo Convention, Chinese tattoo fans had an opportunity to see the different designs displayed by artists from all around the world.

But dominating the tattoo scene at the Langfang International Conference and Exhibition Centre were female Tattoo artists from all over the world.

Throughout the three day convention, all forms of tattoo designs were displayed, the majority of them done by some of the world's best female tattoo artists.

Jane Baroda from the United States has been a tattoo artist for 10 years now.

She expresses her opinion about the growth of the industry and the participation of women tattoo artists, especially here in China.

"I am really pleasantly surprised that their caliber of work is just beautiful, how they incorporate the entire body as a canvas which is beautiful. We tend to do body part by body part, but the Chinese artists are looking at the full body as a canvas: gorgeous."

Before she became a tattoo artist, Jane served in the military. She says tattooing is an integral part of who she is and describes the reaction of her parents when she first made them aware of her decision to quit the force.

"I love the job, it's the best job ever; it's laid back, we get to travel and do work for a living. I have always loved art and it's kind of like a natural progression and I'm just drawn to tattoo style. At first they were kind of like; what are you doing? as I got out of the military which is a very secure job in the United states and now they are really surprised and very supportive."

"My name is Wei Haifeng."

Wei Haifeng is one of many who have been tattooed by Feng Haiyen, a woman artist at the convention. He is happy to get the whole of his back tattooed by a woman because he believes women artists are good at distracting people from the pain that comes with the process.

"This woman is a very popular tattoo artist in China. Plus she is very sexy and beautiful so I can't feel the pain."

Amongst the world's renowned tattoo artists at the convention is Damian McGrath from Canada.

He is the founder of Tattoo.com, the biggest tattoo website in the history of the internet.

He describes how women have played an important role in the growth of the industry since women were first allowed to get tattoos in the late 1960s. And today they are like celebrities to those who love tattoos.

"Women's liberation has a lot to do with the liberation of tattooing as an art form also. Women's liberation brought about feminine tattoos and Artistic tattoos and that made a push in the tattooing. That was really an artistic revolution during the 70s and has continued on through the last years. And that has really done a lot to tear down the negative stereotypes associated with tattooing previously. "

Certainly the industry itself has evolved over recent years. However Damian warns that there is still a lot to be learnt and done as far as stressing the importance of sterilization, cleanliness and safety is concerned, no matter whom you are getting a tattoo from.

"It has to be 100% clean, 100%sterilized, 100% all the time and attention has to be paid to that. And it should only be people who are well versed and professional that are tattooing. Really there should be no tolerance for any slack because it just takes one little mistake to ruin someone's life. It's not worth it for a tattoo to ruin your life because it's a lifetime commitment, an irrevocable choice that is good for your soul."

Alongside the growth in the number of women tattoo artists is a growth in the number people who want to get tattoos.

And as the number of Chinese people getting tattoos increases, conventions like this not only display designs but educate people that although having a tattoo is considered "cool" these days, the selection of tattooist and design still has to be handled with care.

For CRI, I am Nillah Nyakoa.