Museums and Exhibits:
Celebrating the art and culture of tattoos

Although it may seem at times that tattooing is an under appreciated art form, many museums and cultural institutions are paving the way for a better understanding of the significance and beauty of the art of tattooing. The following resources are links to tattoo museums, collections and exhibits. In addition to the beauty of the images included, many of these sites also provide historical and cultural information on the art of tattooing.

 

Australian Museum Online, Body Art

This online exhibit of the Australian Museum explores body art in a variety of forms including tattoos. It includes historical information on tattooing as well as portraits of participants in the Museum's Body Art Exhibition

Bodies of Cultures, A World Tour of Body Modification

This University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeology and Anthropology web site looks at the history and current status of tattooing and other body modification arts.

Body Art Marks of Identity

The American Museum of Natural History's web site for its 1999/2000 Body Art exhibit. Although the exhibit is long since over, the site still has a wealth of photographs of the exhibit. Also check out its Suggested Reading List.

The Tattoo Archive

Berkeley 's oldest tattoo shop and home to the Paul Rogers Research Center (a non-profit tattoo museum and research center). Paul Roger's collection was donated when he died to the Tattoo Archive and is the foundation for the collection. Also visit this site for history on tattoos and famous tattoo contributors. The Tattoo Archive is owned by famous tattoo artist C.W. Eldridge. (This site recently went under construction but should be back up soon).

Triangle Tattoo and Museum

This tattoo studio and museum is owned by famous tattoo artists Madame Chinchilla and Mr. G. This site has links to their current work, images from the museum's collection (including antique flash and tattooing machines) as well as a variety of other tattoo resources.

National Maritime Museum 's Skin Deep Exhibit

This tattoo exhibit ran at London's National Maritime Museum in 2002. The site includes images from the exhibit as well as historical information about tattooing. A section on modern day tattoo culture is also included.

 

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Jesus. Cam at Voodoo Tattoo Studios.
15 December 2003. http://www.voodootattoostudios.com/tattoos2.html

Hand tapping tools from Borneo. Thomas Lockhart's West Coast Tattoo Museum. 15 December 2003. http://www.westcoasttattoo.com/tattoo_museum.htm

 

Tattoo of Christ's face with crown of thorns

Jesus

 

Set of borneo hand tapping tools

Hand tapping tools from Borneo