Fourth London International Tattoo Convention, 26th-28th September
The fourth London International Tattoo Convention, which has been confirmed for September 26/27/28, will this year take place at a new, vastly bigger and better location at Tobacco Dock, 50 Porters Walk, Wapping, London E1W 2SF, having outgrown original venue The Old Truman Brewery.
The London International Tattoo Convention has now become the number one alternative event of the year in London, having attracted HUGE amounts of media coverage worldwide over the last three years, with each event becoming even more crammed with visitors, artists and events, making it one of the most crowded and important conventions in Europe.
The Inaugural London International Tattoo Convention in 2005 attracted over 15,000 visitors, the second saw over 18,000 people through the doors, while last year over 20,000 fans of body art packed the Old Truman Brewery to the rafters and hundreds had to be turned away.
As a result the 4th London International Tattoo Convention has moved to a much bigger venue at Tobacco Dock in Wapping, a completely renovated hidden treasure of beautiful Victorian architecture, built in 1812 to store and market tobacco imported from the East, just a few minutes from Tower Bridge.
The ground floor of Tobacco Dock, where the main Tattoo Convention will be situated, has a huge purpose built bar and restaurant and acres of space for the hundreds of stalls, studios, exotic esoteric dances, shows, exhibits and art events taking place.
Traditional East End themed nourishment will be on offer, including pie and mash stalls and a huge real ale bar stocked with beers chosen by members of Camra, including various London micro-breweries’ latest offerings.
The massive, spectacular underground vault floor, with extensive sprawling nooks and crannies, will contain a fetish market, a varied and vibrant alternative market place, coffee shops and other chill out zones and bars licensed until 1.00am. The ‘Vince Ray Rock’n’Roll Voodoo Crypt’, hosted by the man himself (currently touring with The Stray Cats) will have a nightclub vibe created by none other than Torture Garden, who promise numerous dark, alternative sideshows and entertainment.
The fourth London International Tattoo Convention will once again be packed with top tattoo artists flying in from as far away as Japan, China, Thailand and Singapore, let alone from all over Europe, America, and the UK.
Over 190 top artists, chosen from over 1,000 applications from all around the world, will be in London to demonstrate their extraordinary abilities. Elite artists such as Boog, who specialises in the Chicano style from East Los Angeles, Miami Ink’s Tim Hendrix, Japan’s Horitaka, (a member of the Horiyoshi family who has written over ten books on the history and art of Japanese tattooing), Samoa’s Sua Loli Keli, (a university teacher who is an expert in the Samoan hand style), France’s Tin Tin, (a favourite of the fashion world who works with the likes of Jean Paul Gaultier, Givenchy, Galliano etc) and Phil Kyle and Nicole Lowe of London Ink will be practising their art in public.
Artists of this calibre rarely participate in conventions, but such is the stature of the London International Convention that real tattoo masters like these will be found in abundance at this unique cultural event.
The biggest show of all, however, will be that offered by the visitors themselves, who become the lead characters when they compete in the tattoo contests for different categories, such as Best Tribal, Best Backpiece, Best Black & Grey, Best Colours and Best of Show.
The 2008 Convention will once again feature a host of diverse related attractions, including an Anthropological Exhibition (created by Lionel Titchener of the British Tattoo History Museum), Tribal belly dancers (Les Soeurs Tribale), an Art Fusion Camp plus various Art Exhibitions, Extreme Performance Artists (Lucky Diamond Rich), The Suicide Girls, celebrity book and calendar launches and much, much more. There really will be more things to do than you can shake a stick at!
For more info check www.thelondontattooconvention.com from which tickets are available, priced at £20 per day or £50 for a three day pass.
History
Tattoos have exploded from being a minority interest (mostly associated with sailors, soldiers and nobility), into the mainstream public’s consciousness in the last decade and It is only fitting that London should host the biggest International Tattoo Convention in the world, as it could be argued that modern western tattooing originated here. Captain James Cook, who discovered Tahiti and its tattooed inhabitants in 1769, coined the word ‘tattoo’, inspired by the ‘Tat-Tat’ sound of the hammer hitting the needle piercing the skin. He brought the heavily tattooed Prince Omai back to London, and sparked huge interest in body art, which had virtually disappeared in Europe after a papal bull banning it was issued in 787AD.
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