Documenting Tribal History, Culture and Tattoo Tradition.
Tattooist - Archivist - Anthropologist.
Meraki Fade is an internationally renowned tattoo artist, working out of her own studio in Brighton, UK. She has tattooed worldwide, studying and documenting both tattooing and tattoo anthropology in remote tribal cultures.
Over many years through interviews, film, photography and other mediums, Meraki has documented the cultural significance, purpose, symbolism, and history of traditional tattoo art among isolated tribes in Borneo, West Sumatra, Easter Island and Tahiti.
She is the only European tattoo artist trained in the ancient art of hand tap tattooing which she learned while living with the Iban head-hunter tribes in Sarawak, Borneo.
This year she is releasing a book documenting her world travels, focussing on tattoo anthropology and specifically the tattoo art of traditional tribes.
America.
Meraki Fade meets the Godmother of tattooing, 'Shanghai' Kate Hellenbrand at her studio in Austin Texas.
As female artists continue to excel in contemporary tattooing, early industry pioneer Kate reminds us this was not always the case.
Considered an 'oddity' in a male dominated workplace, Kate trail blazed a path not only to make tattooing accessible to other women but to elevate tattooing as an art form in itself, while honouring 'craft' over commercialism in every individual piece.
Sea Shepherd.
Volunteering as a guest tattoo artist for Sea Shepherd at their tattoo studio HQ in Amsterdam, Meraki Fade interviewed Artistic Director and tattooist of 25 years Geert Vons, to discuss how art can play a vital supporting role to activism on the frontline of global marine conservation.
Sea Shepherd enforce existing international conservation laws, supplying their own crew and ships in assistance of coast guards, local authorities and legal bodies with the power to make necessary arrests, combating illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing all over the world.
Mentawai Islands.
Living among the Shamen of the Mentawai Tribe in West Sumatra Indonesia, Fade Meraki’s research captured their traditions, practices and way of life as they face the environmental and cultural impact of unrestrained encroachment by modern society.
eXXpedition.
In addition to her time in Borneo and West Sumatra, Meraki Fade completed a voluntary role on a two-month long sailing expedition crossing the South Pacific with an all-female crew with eXXpedition, an environmental NGO combating micro plastics in the world’s oceans.
Rapa Nui (Easter Island).
Easter Island, or Rapa Nui is famous for the Moai standing sculptures.
Recent excavations have uncovered full bodies hidden beneath the enigmatic faces which look to the far horizon, exposing intricate carvings of tattoos adorning their backs.
Seeking to discover the cultural tattoo history of the region first hand, Meraki Fade interviewed the only ‘bloodline’ tattooist in Rapa Nui and discussed the origins and meanings behind traditional designs resurrected from the island’s ancient stone carvings.
Borneo.
Living with indigenous communities in Borneo, Meraki Fade was mentored in the practice of traditional hand tapped tattooing by tribal elders.
Her expeditions were the subject of a documentary depicting the process and significance of tattoo art among tribal cultures, including the role tattooing plays in conveying identity, status, storytelling and more.
Tattooing is in our DNA. Tattooing is the love of life and everything in it, it encompasses every science and aspect of art.
— Shanghai Kate Hellenbrand, Tattooing since 1971
