We arrive in Kota Kinabalu, capital of the State of Sabah on the Borneo Island, Malaysian side. The city was reborn from its ashes after the devastation caused by World War II. We can feel the heat wave and the out-of-control urbanisation. To get to the convention, we have to cross a field full of snakes, a bridge over the freeway, step inside a brand new air-conditioned supermarket, take the escalator to the basement to enter the women’s parking lot (pink, of course) venue of a tattoo convention for a week-end. Debutant party in Kota Kinabalu, capital of the State of Sabah on Borneo Island, Malaysian side, where the Sabah Tattoo Association of Borneo, a local artists’ collective has organised its first convention. In the women’s parking lot of the biggest shopping centre in the city, a report is being made on the convention, between Paul Booth fan-clubs, pin-up contests and bamboo dances.
Text : Laure Siegel Photos : © P-Mod Traduction/Translation: Joanie Gélinas "You want a Paul Booth portrait? Well, it’s free and you choose the placement!" With enthusiasm, Filipino tattoo artist Pents Clemente meets his first visitors at his booth. His first client bailed on him and he wants to do this design to present it to today’s contest. Young local tattoo artists admire America’s king of morbid black and grey. Who would have thought, as the day went by, he found a client and that night his realistic portrait, not black and grey, but colour, was voted best of the day.
Brought by Americans, along with napalm and Coca-Cola, western and modern tattoo has started a vocations wave in Asia, and it’s still going on. Norman, aka Ouch! Tattoo Studio, dean of the Filipino troops with a quarter of century of experience in tattooing explains: "When Vietnam War ended, American bases closed down in Southeast Asia and men that were surviving by stealing from US Marines all went to Manila. The scene started in the 90s in a rather intolerant society. We all learned by ourselves, we used pen ink and we made our own machines out of walkmans. I was an electrician but I’d always loved to draw. »
In Kota Kinabalu, it is the start of professionalization. Along with an emerging creativity, tattooing represents a fast and decent way to make a living in a country struck by an economic crisis. To Malaysian clients it’s a way to show that they belong to a certain generation. The biggest trends?: "Mandalas, Japanese New School, even though nobody understands all its meanings, catch superstar The Rock’s portrait, black and grey and lovers’ names." Andreas Majakil smiles, [IMG_0087] he’s been the owner of local studio Revolution Ink for seven years with his associate Christopher Forsythe. "Tattoo artists of this city got together to organise this convention. I didn’t think we would make it but we did. We wish to repeat it every year to meet people from all around the world and to create visibility for local artists. We want people to understand what a positive thing tattoo is, and we want to show them a variety of styles to further enrich the demand. »
At Jimmy Wong’s stand, specialising in sacred Thai tattoos. we’re offered spiritual protection, while the next booth offers sexual performance improvement. Mac Comik is a tattoo artist working in Kuching, the other big city of northern Borneo. He specialises in black and grey, demonic symbols, zombies, hell gates and... penis implants. He’s already performed implants on about ten people in the search for better sensations. His sales pitch: the price. "At my studio, it’s 500 RM, at the doctor’s, it’s 2000 RM" he says. There’s a long history behind genital implants in Borneo, especially for Kayans, Kenyahs, Kelabits, Dayaks and Ibans. Not so long ago, men would pierce the glans of their penis with a rod, respecting the "palang" ritual, symbolising the male’s protective figure in the family.
A struggle between the past, the future, religion, fashion, the desire for emancipation, tradition and globalisation is a common phenomenon in societies in rapid transition like the Malaysian society. It’s an explosive mix in Kuala Lumpur. Lynda Chean who started her career in publicity, opened Pink Tattoos in 2009. "It’s difficult to organise tattoo-related events in Kuala Lumpur, our capital. Islam, the national religion, considers tattoos as ‘haram’ forbidden by faith. In Kuala Lumpur, money and power go together, everything is political, a source of tensions complicating things. What our colleagues do in Kota Kinabalu and Kuching, we could never imagine doing here." Three years ago, a group wanted to organise a convention, but it was cancelled at the last minute because of a strong opposition from some ministers. Therefore, they have to take baby steps. Julian Oh, tattoo artist and renowned photographer is the organiser of a small low-key event in KL, blending car show and tattoos with about ten artists from Malaysia and Singapore. "We were inspired by Germany’s Kustom Culture Forever (renowned annual event in Herten, bringing together antique cars, old bikes and Old School tattoo artists, editor’s note). In our present situation, it’s still very scary to organise anything but we will keep on going to make our little community grow." Despite the oppression, tattoo in Malaysia is booming. "Everything’s changed and became more accessible to Asian artists since Chinese inks and machines came along a few years ago. The ‘official’ scene is growing but the situation is still blurry: there are no regulations and the number of street shops has been increasing in the capital for decades" Lynda adds.
It’s Sunday, already Sunday. Some mothers are coming to get tattoos with their children. One of them is wearing a "Pleasure before business" t-shirt; a man is walking around with his chameleon on his shoulder. Taco Joe, a young and promising local artist is finishing a special "Sabah" piece (Mount Kinabalu, the 4095 meters high peak of this country and of Borneo Island, editor’s note) on his client’s arm. At Arth Akal’s stand, eccentric artist impressing with his "Where’s Waldo" style, visitors are fighting for his last available flashes.
Time for the contests; "Sex on the Beach" (Spankers’ version) is playing; best colour, best black and grey, best weird, and best of the day. Renowned tattoo artist and model Kinki Rizuaky is asked to be a part of the jury raising a wave of smartphones. Being a well-known tattoo artist and model, she’s a business woman in sexy clothing. It’s hard to be an independent tattoo artist in Malaysia as a woman, so she goes franco. At 28, the young woman is a real phenomenon on the Internet, with more than one million fans on social media. Sponsored machines and gloves, autographed t-shirts and banners with sexy pictures of her... Kinki Rizuaky takes good care of her image and always takes the time to take pictures with her fans. Despite her teeth-grinding prices, clients come all the way from Hong Kong, China, Taiwan and Australia to get tattooed by her. She’s booked solid. She travels as much as possible to widen her clientele, Malaysian market being limited, with a 60% Muslim population. "If the police were to catch us tattooing Muslims at the shop, we could get in trouble" says Kinki Ryuzaki. She opened her own studio in April 2014 in Kuala Lumpur. "I’m finally free, I can meet other artists, get better at what I do, go to conventions, work on my self-promotion." Only future matters to this young woman.
Across, Augustine Nezumi, is wearing a black and white prisoner’s outfit. Here’s his verdict: "I didn’t have a lot of expectations, but honestly this was honourable for a first edition. In Singapore, it took us fifteen years to reach an international level. We have the best tattoo culture in Asia, everybody gets tattooed and it’s cool. I just finished a full neck piece for a client, owner of three boats, who’s an important businessman in the oil industry and it’s fine. Tattoo culture is new in Borneo, and people must understand that they have to pay to get a good tattoo. It costs at least 200 dollars an hour in Singapore, no reason to lower the rates. If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys" he says.
