This January, from the 9th-11th, Singapore will acknowledge the rapidly growing world tattoo community with its first ever tattoo show. Quite progressive indeed for a place where things like gay sex, porn, chewing gum and spitting are still illegal. To celebrate this acknowledgment of the a-changin’ times, artist extraordinaire Chris Garver will be the convention’s ambassador.
So far, it looks as though things are shaping up quite nicely for the event. Artists such as Paul Booth, Bob Tyrrell and Robert Hernandez as well as over 140 others from 25 different countries worldwide will converge on Singapore to share ideas, art and good times.
In addition to all this, convention organizers are also offering a couple of pretty decent contests for attendees. International ticket holders for the event have the opportunity to enter a draw for a 3 day, 2-night stay at the five star Grand Mercure Roxy Hotel. The deadline for the draw is December 10th, with the winner being announced the following day.
Meanwhile, all convention ticket holders are encouraged to write a 150-200 word appeal as to why they deserve a Chris Garver tattoo. Entries are to be emailed to: admin@tattoo.com.sg and are due no later than December 25th, 2008. One winner will be tattooed by the man himself. So there you go: maybe you live in Singapore or maybe you’re planning on making the journey out there for the convention. Whatever your situation, the possibility of a free five star hotel room or a Chris Carver tattoo definitely sweetens the deal.
Whether it’s conscious or not, Singapore’s decision to host a tattoo show highlights a couple of things. First, for all the negative Nancies and Neds out there who persist with outdated stereotypes regarding tattoos, this convention proves that a large tattooed population can and does exist in a country that boasts one of the lowest crime rates on the planet. In other words, tattooed folks aren’t the cause of or the result of crime.
Second, given Singapore’s notorious clean freak mentality (anyone who’s ever been to Singapore will agree with me here that you could pretty much eat a meal directly off the city’s sidewalks), the mere fact that the show is taking place gives a nod of confidence to the cleanliness, professionalism and all around sterility of tattoo art.
I hope this convention is a great success and that it inspires other countries and cities around the world that’ve been dragging their feet on the issue of hosting their own tattoo shows.
Lastly, if you go to the show and win the Chris Garver tattoo or happen to know the lucky bastard who does, send a photo of the work to jonesbmike at googlemail dot com and I’ll post it. Good luck!