- China's Tattoo Revolution & The Government Pt. 2 -
by Damian McGrath, Tattoos.com

Well, I am back in central Beijing and just returned from meeting with the chinese Government and got to see the olympic stadium (left) on my way back to the hotel. Lyle Tuttle and I will now go out for a few drinks back in the Guije, that hip area we visited last week with Mike Rubandall and Chris O'Donnell.

I have come to realize that even though China is fast becoming a world power, things are still done in a traditional manner. There is often confusion and last minute planning. A very fly by the seat of your pants society. As was obvious when meeting the government Ministers and state television people along with the China Association of professional tattooists.

Kisen , the convention organizer sat down with me last night after the show and asked me about my opinion. I was honest wiith him , because it does need a lot of work , so I went through it with him. He has been gracious and hospitable, providing me with food, accomadations, a driver and translator at all times So I owe him the benifit of our experience with shows at the very least. He paid attention and agreed with me he needed to hone the show which, from personal experience takes many years of practice.

So tonight I was asked by Kisen if I was going to be able to attend a meeting with some gov't officials to asst. him in making tattooing more legitimate in China. I thought no big deal, I agreed to it and when I arrived at the restauraunt (all meetings seem to take place in restauraunts) it was me and about 30 people.

I was introduced to the head of production for the gov't division of the entertainement ministry for cultural development and festivals (as near as they can tell, they have a gov't division for everything) it gets better, I was told they were the ones that had been doing all the filming and wanted to produce a movie on tattooing in China, but it must be recognized as part of culture and could only have the support of Chinese culture by first being approved by the division of unsubstanitated culture (loosely translated) which is the gov't division that approves of any new culture that has not yet been approved by Chinese ministry of culture (i know, it makes perfect sense). I was then told I would be meeting with Director of this division of the gov't. About a half hour before the actual meeting, and they wanted me to prepare to help convince him to make tattooing an acceptable part of Chinese culture. Nothing like a little warning.

So the director showed up with his staff (an hour late) and I met with him and the TV people and Artists assoc. to discuss the heritage and signifigance of tattooing in other cultures around the world through a translator for about two hours. I brought up how Polynesian tattoo culture was virtually wiped out by Japanese occupation in WW2 and had only recently been revised as a proud part of heritage throughout the South Pacific, restoring a sense of individuality among Samoa, Malaysia and other nations. I also explained that what i saw this weekend was Chinese artists doing Chinese art on people and that as far as i see from an outsiders perspective, Chinese tattooing already exists.

If the government does not embrace it's history it will only hinder the development of the artform. I also pointed out that he would be the one looked upon 50 years from now as helping to bring modern tattooing of chinese art to to the world as another great part of chinese culture, which is already respected in the form of so many genres whether it is traditional art, paper cutting, architecture or even food.

There was much debate in the following hour with the government, who still sees the tattoos as part of gang culture or just a crazy phase the youth is embracing in the past few years. But even the government concedes more young people are getting tattooed and when they become older there view of tattoos and tolerance will change from the current older generation. So, the damn is already broken,and it is a good thing the government is admitting it, even if they're not supporting it. From what I gather though, in China having the support of the government makes doing business a lot easier.

They then brought in the Dulong women of the South China, that have their faces tattooed to show there is history of tattoo culture in China. The most bizarre moment came when i took one of Kisen's cigarettes (if you can't beat em, join em) and the Director from the gov't reached over and lit my smoke for me. We all then had photos taken together, and I excused myself because I had to go work. When I got up to leave, the director got up, shook my hand and said "nice to meet you" in english, and left the same time as me. I am sure the debate will continue and hopefully the government will learn to embrace this newly evolving part of Chinese culture.
China's Tattoo Revelution Pt. 1