Art that’s only skin deep
The world’s top tattoo artists are drawn to Cape Town. Report by Kowthar Solomons, pictures by Matthew Jordaan
GETTING inked is not only for hard-core tattoo lovers – and the growing popularity of the Cape Town Tattoo Convention is definitely proof of that. The fourth annual event of its kind, on this weekend at the Pavilion Conference Centre at the V&A Waterfront, the convention has attracted some of the world’s top tattoo artists to the Mother City.
BODY ART: Milo Marcer, of Mr Lucky Tattoos in Cape Town, works on Pippa Tshabalala’s left thigh.
Southern Ink Xposure (SIX) is the lead organiser behind the event, and PR and marketing manager Jon Monsoon said this year’s turn-out had been fantastic. “The convention gets better every year, and we see the numbers grow to reflect that.”When they started, he admits, people mostly visited “out of curiosity, to gawk at the tattooed”. “But now we see those same people come in with ink of their own.”
Some of the artists in this year’s line-up are Spain’s Robert Hernandez, Thomas Alvarado of the US, and Dermadonna of the Netherlands.
The event is aimed specifically at adults, but for the children there are temporary tattoos stalls and a tattoothemed putt putt course.
Among the celebs who have popped in are 5fm’s DJ Fresh, Roger Taylor of the legendary rock band Queen, and members of Joburg rock outfit Shadow Club, who will perform at the after-party tomorrow evening.
“It’s great that tattoos have become more mainstream and aren’t just associated with bikers, gangsters and negative stereotypes,” Monsoon said.
The event ends tomorrow night. Tickets are R120 for adults and entrance is free for children under 16.
kowthar.solomons@inl.co.za
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