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🇵🇾 Paraguay /Culture & Society

More than 350 tattoo artists leave their mark on Amsterdam at annual international convention

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth From a news agency Context piece
  • More than 350 tattoo artists opened the 20th annual international convention in Amsterdam.
  • The three-day event brings artists from dozens of countries and features handpoke, realistic, tribal, anime and Chicano styles.
  • Visitors are receiving tattoos at a former dock north of Amsterdam, a site known for graffiti and urban art.

More than 350 tattoo artists and professionals opened Amsterdam’s 20th annual international tattoo convention on Friday. The event will run for three days at a former dock north of the Dutch capital, reached by a ferry crossing the canal.

The venue is filled with graffiti and urban art. Inside, artists work among tattoo beds, medical supplies and bottles of ink. They have arrived from dozens of countries and represent a wide range of styles, including handpoke, realism, tribal, anime and Chicano designs.

For me, it was always a dream to come and tattoo in Amsterdam, because I am a street artist

· Juani SosaThe Spanish tattoo artist described why taking part in the Amsterdam convention was important to him.

For Juani Sosa, a Spanish tattoo artist living in Germany, appearing in Amsterdam fulfills a long-held ambition. “For me, it was always a dream to come and tattoo in Amsterdam, because I am a street artist,” he told EFE while tattooing a scene from “The Walking Dead” on a client’s leg.

Sosa said he once drew caricatures for tourists in Málaga for 15 euros. He now considers the Amsterdam convention one of the world’s most important tattoo events.

I love following the lines of the body. That is why I like to wrap around an arm or a hip, and I love playing with the legs

· Naomi NijbroekShe explained how her nature-inspired designs follow the shape of the body.

Japanese artist Horigen2 prepared a space on the floor with a thin plastic-covered mattress. He has used handpoke for 10 years, dipping a needle into ink and puncturing the skin by hand, a slower process than machine tattooing. Naomi Nijbroek, an illustrator from the Netherlands, moved from paper to skin four years ago. Working with the Utrecht studio Blackbear.ink, she designs tattoos inspired by nature and wildlife, following the body’s contours.

Anna, a Polish woman living in the Netherlands, returned to the convention for a second year. She left with a butterfly and floral design on her forearm. She said she had wanted tattoos since childhood but began getting them only after she was living alone. She now has more than 30 tattoos across her body.

I came here last year, but I did not get a tattoo, so this year I decided to get one

· AnnaThe returning convention visitor described her decision to get a butterfly and floral tattoo.
About this summary

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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