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Jan 12, 2024

York Festival of Ideas to look at cultural impact of tattoos

AN academic event on the practice and cultural context of tattooing takes

AN academic event on the practice and cultural context of tattooing takes place in York next week.

The event forms part of the Festival of Ideas, which began last Friday and runs until Thursday June 15, with more than 150 free events.

It follows on the University of York's first academic conference at the Royal Maritime Museum in London, last month.

The event brought together academic researchers and other individuals passionate about tattoos, tattooing practice, tattooed communities, and the intersection of tattoos and well-being.

University of York's Festival of Ideas attracts top names

Topics ranged from the historical tattoo scholarship, the relationship between tattooing and motherhood, the cultural significance of tattoos in communities spanning Egypt, India, and Nigeria, the link between AI and tattoos and what it means to be tattooed.

The follow-up event is on next Monday, June 12, and will feature a public talk titled 'Tattoo: The Body as Archive'.

It will also incorporate discussions on new research regarding naval tattoos, fan tattoos, and insights that tattoos can reveal.

Tattooing has had a long and abiding association with seamen, but times are changing. With tattooing now become mainstream, some 35 per cent of British citizens aged 30-39 sport them somewhere on their bodies.

Helmsley Group sponsors the Big Tent Ideas Festival

The panel of experts will delve into a range of topics, including the world of complex and unexpected imagery that people throughout history have used to inscribe their identities on their bodies.

The event will also explore the idea of the body as an archive, learn about the social networks and ideas of the self that tattooing can express, and find out how we can go about recovering the insights that it can reveal.

Co-organiser, Dr Nina Willment, Research Associate in the School of Arts and Creative Technologies at the University of York, said: "It is such an interesting, vibrant, and interdisciplinary research area, and we can't wait to bring together tattoo artists, practitioners, academics and people with an interest in tattoos together for what we hope will be a wonderful event for Festival visitors."

York Festival of Ideas features Michael Morpurgo and Harriet Walter

The event is free to attend but tickets need to be booked in advance.

The York Festival of Ideas has run every year for 12 years and is one of the largest events of its kind in the world.

Organised by University of York, it is delivered in partnership with more than 100 organisations delivering more than 150 in-person and online events.

There are talks, panel discussions, performances, family-friendly activities and more. Topics range from archaeology to art, history to health and politics to psychology

For more details and to book the free tickets, go to: yorkfestivalofideas.com

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