As cool and trendy as you might feel for the ink on your forearm (ahem, Justin Bieber), you are definitely not the first to mark your flesh. Although tattoos may seem like a thing of the present, with more people getting inked and skin art becoming more accepted in the workplace, people throughout the world have been tattooing their bodies for nearly 5,000 years. "Tatoueurs, Tatoués," an art exhibition which looks at the history of tattoos, recently opened at the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris.
The show examines how the tattoos have changed from being a work of traditional civilizations to what's now something embraced by the mainstream. Curated by journalists Anne and Julien of Hey! magazine, "Tatoueurs, Tatoués" compiles over 300 photographs, tools, statues, skulls, and even bits of tattooed human skin.
“Tattooing is part of the common heritage of most of humanity. We wanted to do this exhibition for a long time because we feel it’s important to show that tattooing has a real history and is a pure product of humanity," Julien told Design Taxi. "There’s not a place in the world where mankind has been that has not used tattooing... it’s both artisan and artistic."
On view from May 6 until Oct. 18, 2014, "Tatoueurs, Tatoués" is a must-see show for anyone who claims to be a tattoo enthusiast.
[via DesignTaxi]
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