KOTA KINABALU, Sept 8 — Tattooing in Sabah has come a long way from its days of being associated with criminals and the unsavoury types, so much so that it has become a burgeoning industry in the former British colony.
With legitimate parlours popping up all over the state capital in recent years, a couple of enterprising artists felt that the time has come to bring the art form into the mainstream.
“We have been thinking about organising a convention in Sabah for many years now. We think the industry is ready and has the potential to grow even bigger and we want to promote professional standards of tattooing (in) the industry,” Max Junior Tinun told Malay Mail Online in a recent interview.
With the aim of making a proper industry out of needling ink under clients’ skin, the 25-year-old managing director of Koiyak Gloves — which supplies rubber gloves to tattoo artists — and ink maestro Carlos Benny Majakil, 32, have joined forces to organise the first Sabah International Tattoo and Culture Convention next month.
It is no longer just a form of rebellion or standing out from the crowd. It is becoming more widely accepted as an art, a personalized representation of themselves and more and more people are buying into it,” Max said.
“Even the family man wants their children’s portrait tattooed on them,” he added.
Carlos — who was born in the Kadazan heartland of Penampang — said the convention would be a great way to tell the world that the North Bornean state has much to offer in terms of the art, apart from sharing its indigenous inking heritage.
“Apart from showcasing great designs and skills, we aim to preserve Sabah’s heritage and culture of body art by bringing in different types of tattoo styles and expand beyond the appreciation of indigenous designs.
“Tattoo conventions been held for years in other countries, it is time to have it organised well in a high potential and fresh place such Sabah,” said Carlos, who plies his trade with Max across the South China Sea in the national capital of Kuala Lumpur.
Both Carlos and Max expect some 12,000 people to visit the convention, which will be held over three days starting October 23 at the Hyatt Regency Kota Kinabalu.
Over 50 tattoo artists from across the globe are expected to take part in the event, including renowned Sarawakian artist Ernesto Kalum of BorneoHeadhunter from Kuching; Christian Nguyen of Inkvaders Tattoo from Switzerland; Emil Supertramp from Latvia; Raphael Bühlmann aka Ruffkid from Switzerland and Jun Chihara from Fukuoka, Japan.
“I think the event will be a new tourism attraction in Sabah as it attracts not only Malaysians from Borneo and the Peninsula but also a vast audience from the Southeast Asian region, Europe and America,” Carlos said.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story erroneously described Max Junior Tinun and Carlos Benny Majakil as business partners. They are, however, running separate businesses, and are collaborating to organise the convention.
