TRIBAL ART TATTOOS

Tribal art tattoos generally refer to those designs coming from the Pacific Islands and parts of Africa. The look of a tribal art tattoo is instantly recognizable with its sharp aggressive black lines and is meant to convey a feeling rather than represent a specific physical object. Today by fusing ancient designs with modern techniques, tribal art tattoos are some of the most popular tattoos available.

Tribal tattoo art reached its apex in Polynesia and its surrounding environs and has been practiced on willing volunteers for the last 2000 years. Here tribal art tattoos are not simply decorative but often a necessary representation of adulthood. In Samoa, a full body-suit of tribal art tattoos are a necessary rite of manhood, while in Borneo tribal art tattoos help warriors identify each other---and their enemies.



Perhaps no culture has had a bigger influence on tribal tattoo art than the Maori of New Zealand. Their “Moko” style incorporated the sharp lines of the tribal tattoo body suit and emphasized facial tribal tattoos—with which spirits could identify them in the afterlife.

For many years tribal art tattoos were the province of traveling sailors and fringe circus performers. This was due mostly to the fact that the procedure was so painful—an important spiritual component for tribal tattoo cultures. But with the invention of the tattoo gun in 1891, and a proclivity for Western sailors to acquire a tattoo for each of their stops, tribal tattoo art began to spread.

But it wasn’t until LA Tattoo artist Leo Zuleta borrowed his friend’s book of tribal art tattoos that the style exploded into a phenomenon in the early 90’s. By creating a fusion of styles, sometimes called neo-tribal or pseudo-tribal, and inking his rock star friends, tribal tattoo art became one of the most popular forms of body art in the world.

Some lament that while the aesthetic of tribal art tattoos may remain, much of their symbolism has been lost. Still tribal art tattoos are remarkably resilient for their ability to mean many things at once, (or nothing at all) ---depending on the person who is wearing them.