Every time that I think I’ve seen all and heard all of the ridiculous biases against tattooists, a brand new one catches me off guard and smacks me in the face. The most recent one comes from Christchurch, New Zealand where somewhere in the neighbourhood of nine tattoo studios were destroyed back in February during the Christchurch earthquake.
Tattooist Kevin Wills, owner of Christchurch tattoo studio Black Rose Tattooing, was unfortunate enough to have sustained a great deal of damage to his shop after the quake. Because of an ancient manner of doing business, most insurance companies in New Zealand will not insure tattoo studios. So, after the quake when Wills’ Black Rose Tattooing burnt down, he was left with absolutely nothing.
Fortunately however, the local electric company has acknowledged that they did play a role in the accidental fire caused in Wills’ studio. They have now said that they will offer some form of compensation for Wills, but what that will be remains to be seen. For the time being, Wills is still tattooing, opening a new small studio called HIVIZ Tattooing. I wish Wills all the best, but – and I don’t mean to nitpick here – but it seems to me that HIVIZ Tattooing isn’t exactly the most charming name. Especially the way the sign on the building is set up – it looks a little too much like HIV IZ Tattooing. Kind of a bad choice.
None the less, all the best to Kevin Wills and let’s hope that he finds himself with a nice cash settlement sometime soon.