For more than 5,000 years, tattoos have been used to document the history of humanity one painful mark at a time. Spanning cultures and continents, tattooing has adorned European nobility and Native Americans, celebrities and Scandinavian sailors, punks and presidents, and seemingly everyone else in between. Today, tattoos have never been more popular.
Tattoos are so much more than decoration. Tattoos are a powerful visual language of the skin, and, like texts, they permanently record memories, life stories, and personal achievements.
Tattoo: Identity Through Ink tells the story of tattoos and the people who have them. We’ll explore the ways individual and group identities are formed, reinforced, and celebrated through tattoos. Of course there is a Scandinavian connection–with celebrated artists like Norwegian Johan Frederik Knudsen and Norwegian-American Amund Dietzel, the question of whether or not Vikings had tattoos, and the rise of a whole modern Neo-Nordic style of tattooing. But the exhibition also allows us to explore more deeply the traditions of body ornamentation in other cultures and our connections to them.
The exhibit will include large and immersive photos and videos and original art and artifacts from around the world. You’ll have the opportunity to design and draw your own tattoos on silicone arms. There will be a working tattoo studio and at a few certain times during the run, tattoo artists will demonstrate their art live. Temporary tattoos inspired by objects in the collection will be for sale in the Museum Store.
In partnership with Luther College Nordic Studies Department and Chemistry Department.
September 19, 2019
Tattooing in the Ancient World
Lars Krutak, Tattoo Anthropologist, Exhibit Guest Curator
October 29, 2019
Tattoos, Medievalism, and White Nationalism
Lindsey Row-Heyveld, Professor of English, Luther College
November 24, 2019
The Future of Tattoos
Carson Bruns, Professor of Chemistry, University of Colorado, Boulder
In the Museum Store:
Temporary Tattoos inspired by objects in the collection here.
View pictures from the opening event here. Check back for more events and details.