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T attoos are beautiful, and they’re also more commonplace today than ever before. With that in mind, we’d also point out that where there is a thing lots of people are doing, there’s a human studying that thing. Enter Lars Krutak, one of the country’s most renowned tattoo anthropologists. Krutak will speak on the topic as part of the International Museum of Folk Art’s Sacred Realm exhibit. (Alex De Vore)
What was it about tattoos that made you want to focus on them to the degree you have ?
I have a love of art history and anthropology and saw tattoos as the bridge linking these passions together. At the onset of working with Indigenous tattoo bearers two decades ago, I realized that tribal tattoo culture was disappearing across many regions of the world, and no one was documenting this vast body of cultural heritage. So I set out to change the situation, because I wanted to promote awareness of what was being lost, but also what could be regained if tattoo knowledge was preserved and shared for future generations, especially by those individuals who might want to reclaim it in order to revive these ancient practices.
What do you think it is that drives people to decorate their bodies?
Tattooing is much more than mere decoration. Tattooing offers one of the most profound biographical, artistic and intellectual statements on the importance of cultural diversity, human experience and visual communication. Tattoos transmit a vast body of information about who we are, where we come from, our desires and fears and who we aspire to be.
Do you have a favorite style or era?
For 20 years, my research has focused on Indigenous tattooing and scarification around the world. I carry more than 30 tribal tattoos on my body that were created through the use of traditional pigments [like] vegetable carbon and timeworn methods: hand-tapping, hand-poking, skin-stitching, scar-tattooing. All of these tattoos are geometric, abstract, and blue-black, and I doubt I will ever receive anything that is colorful, figurative or photo-realistic. I am old school and very traditional that way.
