Tattooed in Iraq

[ChibiHorsewoman]

[color=darkviolet][b]Dragons, Skulls Thrill Iraq's Teen-Age Tattoo Fans

By Matthew Green

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Need a skull, a dragon or a naked woman? Descend a flight of steps to a dingy corridor and step into Baghdad's only tattoo parlor.

In a city better known for bombs than body art, a self-taught Iraqi tattoo artist is pioneering a new style of designs forbidden under ousted dictator Saddam Hussein (news - web sites).


Working with a home-made needle and architect's ink, Sarmad Shamael says his Celtic crosses, screaming eagles and death's heads are catching on among a small circle of youths.


"Now people have more freedom; people have a choice about what they do. There's no laws to restrict them," he said, speaking in his shop where pin-ups of bikini-clad models adorn the pastel pink walls.


"A lot of people ask me, 'Why are you so strange? Why are you so Westernized?' I tell them: Because I like it," said Shamael, a soft-spoken 29-year-old who began painting as a child.


For Iraqi teen-agers, the almost guilty pleasure of tattoos provide a moment's respite from life in Baghdad where car bombs can explode at any moment, militiamen run riot in the slums and the chances of finding a job are slim.


Advertised by word of mouth, Shamael's parlor has had about 100 clients since it opened after Saddam's fall in April last year, with dragons proving the most popular of the designs he copies from a well-thumbed book imported from abroad.


Himself a walking ad for his art, Shamael has drawn a lion and a dragon on his forearm, while a friend helped print the motto "I want kiss you" in English on his upper arm.


He says there's no need to worry about health risks -- he always dips his needle in antiseptic.


Costing anything from about $15 upwards, the quality of his tattoos has some way to go to match the intricate designs shown in pictures from foreign magazines pasted on his walls, but Shamael is building on a rich tradition.


Iraq (news - web sites)'s tribes have long pricked their skin with designs to cure disease, work as love charms or ward off the evil eye, although city teen-agers who dare break what is still a taboo for many people are risking their parents' wrath.


"BURN THEM OFF"


Mohammed Jasim, 19, said he had no regrets about the scorpion and native Indian chief emblazoned on his upper arms a couple of months ago -- despite his father's reaction when he realized they would not wash off with soap and water.


"He told me to burn them off and brought me some acid," he said, speaking in the shop where Shamael inscribed them.


"I got into a fight with him, then my mother and brother got involved and said the damage had been done, and that if he poured acid it would just disfigure me."


It's not just the risk of parental outrage that may make some Iraqis think twice about depicting a serpent on their calf or scribbling their lover's name on their forearm.


Many Iraqis associate tattoos with prison, where convicts would give each other crude designs like heart shapes to while away the years. Others simply regard them as vulgar.





Iraq's tiny community of heavy metal fans are big customers at Shamael's shop and some policemen are also keen. Three officers came in the other day to have the same winged skull design tattooed on their arms.

In tribal areas, women are the guardians of arcane tattoo lore, sometimes using the breast milk of a mother nursing a baby girl to mix the pigment for medicinal patterns.

Women, though, are a rarity in the parlor -- not because they don't want tattoos, Shamael says, but because they are too scared to venture out amid Baghdad's surge in crime.

Speaking in his guitar studio a few doors down the corridor, Shamael's cousin Saad Sada, 35, believes his relative's work could one day win much wider acceptance.

"I think tattoos are going to become more popular," he said. "Now it's turning into an art form."[/b]

I just thought that this was a neat discussion peice that I found on yahoo. I guess I thought of this as a nice little look into the lives of normal people who are having something done and being able to do something despite the fact that everything is just going off the wall in their country.

I also liked that peices of information about teh history of tattoos in Iraq. Not that there was much on teh history, but it was a bit of an insight into their culture.

And yes, everyone can think I'm odd to find a tattoo studio as a sign of normalicy in a war torn country. Any other thoughts or opinions?[/color]

[Baron Samedi]

[size=1]It is nice, I'd agree with you on that. Generally though, I think that degrees of normalcy will return. It won't be fully normal for a while though yet, I think.[/size]

[DeathBug]

[color=indigo][font=comic sans ms]What a completely perfect example of human ingenuity and the inherant beuaty of the free market system. Within five years, Shamael will be a very wealthy man, as opposed to being a perpetually poor man living under despotic rule.

Granted, I still think tatoos are stupid, but why ruin a great story?[/color][/font]