You don’t usually see many tigers in downtown Reykjavik, but last weekend they were on the prowl on bodies and on t-shirts for the ninth Annual Tattoo Convention at Bar 11.
Needles were buzzing and so were all the convention-goers, from tattoo-covered artists to kids, elderly men, and even a noisy celebrating bride-to-be.

There was a great feeling of inclusiveness which had a lot to do with the fact that tattoos have become a lot more easily available in Reykjavik over the past few years.
A total of twenty tattoo artists were present at the convention and all of them had more than enough to do. The convention was supposed to close at ten in the evening, but artist Holly Ellis, and many others worked into the late hours of the night. The crowded tent was surely far from an ideal work place with its shaky floorboards makeshift arm rests, but somehow the tattoo artists still managed to produce beautiful tattoos of all shapes, styles and sizes on all sorts of people. Even local celebrity, Icelandic strongman and star of television series Game of Thrones, Hafþór Július Björnsson (The Mountain) made an appearance and added to his impressive collection of ink.

Reykjavik has a fast growing tattoo culture with numerous tattoo studios across the city and a Facebook page with over 5000 members where anything to do with tattoos in Iceland is discussed. With this in mind, it is no wonder that guests from all over the country and more recently, visitors from around the world have been travelling to the Reykjavik to get inked by some of the best tattoo artists in the world.

Svala

Follow