Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/874823
16 maltatoday, SUNDAY, 17 SEPTEMBER 2017 News Inked in history Inked in history Inked in history Inked in history U ntil fairly recently, tattoo art was perceived primarily as taboo, "with deeply held prejudices against the practice, mostly associated with unruly sailors, waterfront workers, prison inmates and the criminal underworld," says Pierre Portelli, artist curator of upcoming project 'Rel-Ink'. Tattoo art is almost commonplace to- day, with it even becoming part of main- stream pop culture. All you have to do is take a casual stroll down the street and you'll notice that people from all walks of life have a range of tattoo art, from the small and dainty to the large and loud. Having always been intrigued by the world of tattooing, throughout his career, Portelli has been involved in several contemporary art projects and sees Rel-Ink as the next exciting step in the research process, which he has in the subject. He himself grew up in the beautiful port city of the capital, Valletta and always found himself staring in child-like wonder at the tattooed men who worked on ships or at the waterfront. This is where the latest project, Rel- Ink, comes into play. Hosted by Heritage Malta, an exhi- bition will be held at the Maritime Museum in Vittoriosa on 6 Octo- ber. Rel-Ink promises to explore tattoos and their signifi- cance in the day to day life of elderly Maltese males, aged 75 and over, who worked as labourers, seafar- ers and the like, at a time when the maritime sec- tor was the mainstay in Malta's colonial economy – which means, from the 1900s all the way up to the Second World War. It will feature in- depth personal oral history ac- counts, straight from the mouths of tattooed participants as well as documentation and images of their tattoo designs, with the main moti- vation being to cast a light on Maltese tattoo artists and their handiwork. "One of the objectives is to document, as extensively as possible, twentieth cen- tury tattoo designs in the Maltese popula- tion", said Pierre. But that's not all! The project aims to build a digital archive, which will be made available as an open-source platform via partner the Department of Library Information and Ar- chives Study at the University of Malta, ensur- ing that all information will be made available online, for all to see and admire. To bring this project to life, historical research was gathered and combed through from the National Archive of Malta, which showed that at the time, tattoos were even included on passport docu- ments and r e f e r e n c e d as "visible d i s t i n - Heritage Malta embarks on a historical discovery through the Maltese tattoo Maud Stevens Wagner (1877-1961) was a circus performer and the first known female tattoo artist in the United States