Donate

Tattooing

tattooist

South Korea has a burgeoning tattoo scene. But most tattoo parlors are illegal.

Culture

Since 1992, the South Korean government has arbitrarily enforced a law that limits the act of giving tattoos to medical professionals.

Safi Haso, about 70 years old, from Girik village of Kobani. "We are probably the last generation that has tattoos," she says. "All Kurdish women had them." In addition to facial, hand and neck tattoos, Haso has tattooed her own breast with circles around

These Kurdish refugee women are proud owners of facial tattoos

Culture
The World

Veterans display their wars through ink and art

Culture
African migrants attempt to enter Spain

These African migrants are hoping to do a little more than play through

Global Scan
The eyes tattooed on this Soviet prisoner's chest signify "I can see everything" and "I am watching," the powerful tattoo of a criminal "overseer." The eight-pointed stars tattooed on the shoulders mark the bearer as an "authoritative’" thief.

What it means when you see a Russian guy with a knife tattooed on his neck

Culture
Turkish tattoo artist Danny Garcia in his Istanbul tattoo parlor.

A Turkish businessman honors Ataturk — by offering free tattoos of his signature

Arts, Culture & Media

Artist Danny Garcia is part of the movement to honor Turkey’s modern-day founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, on the anniversary of his death. But this year, just one person took up his offer of a free tattoo of Ataturk’s signature. And that may be a sign of a cultural shift.

Getting Inked: The Story Behind Traditional Maori Tattoos

Arts, Culture & Media

Tattoos take many forms and have a history going back thousands of years. But in which country would you most likely find a tattoo style called moko?

Israeli son honors Holocaust-surviving father with identical tattoo

Ron Folman got a tattoo 15 years ago. That’s not all that unusual. But the Israeli’s man tattoo is a bit shocking. It’s an identical replica of the tattoo his father received at the German concentration camp Auschwitz during the Holocaust.

Scientists show off their profession in tattoos

Arts, Culture & Media

A writer blogged about a friend of his — a scientist — who had a particular tattoo: a strand of DNA. All of the sudden, other scientists came out of the woodwork to show off their odd ink.

Tattoo Culture Along the Texas-Mexico Border

Arts, Culture & Media

These are trying times at the US-Mexican border, and many of the tattoo designs there reflect that life, as The World’s Jason Margolis found out in the Rio Grande Valley, in corner of southeast Texas.