Traditional Inuit tattoos are making a comeback in Greenland. Some use the tattoos as cultural markers while others get them for completely different reasons.
Maya Sialuk Jacobsen has been tattooing profes- sionally for over 20 years. She sees a clear distinction between indigenous tattoos and western tattoos. In earlier times, indigenous tattoos were usually tattooed by a mother on her daughter. They were traditional patterns that had a significance and could reflect familiar things. This is far removed from the tattoos that we see today, for example on many famous footballers.
”Tattoos can help us un-derstand who we are. It is incredibly important that we understand our culture and are aware of where we come from. Fortunately, we have many opportunities with the knowledge that is available. The future lies in the past,”
Maya Sialuk Jacobsen told the Sermitsiaq weekly newspaper in 2019. Renowned singer Julie Berthelsen takes a slightly differ- ent view about her tattoos.
“All the tattoos from the past are symbols and amulets. Sometimes they were also ‘merely’ decorative. In my view, there has been widespread and very misguided focus on these in Denmark. We get them on our hands, arms, face, chest and legs. It has been provocative to many,” the singer wrote on social media in 2019. She also wrote: “Many in Denmark think it is a rebellious outburst. That is to say a symbol of disassociation from Denmark and the Danes. That by reviving/choosing anew our ancient culture and beliefs, we are opting out of Denmark and all things Danish. Let me say once and for all, it has nothing to do with that.”
For Julie Berthelsen, whose mother is Greenlandic and father is Danish, the tattoos are about feelings and identity.
“Identity is a combination of who we once were – our foremothers, who we actually celebrate with these tat-toos and who we are today. Foremothers, because it was women who bore tattoos, not men.”
To design the two stamps that initiate this new stamp series based on the theme ‘Tattoo Art in Greenland’, we have collaborated with Paninn-guaq Lind Jensen. She is both a visual artist and a tattooist. Paninnguaq says of her two stamps: “The spirituality and powers residing in the tattoos are the essence that I experience as a traditional tattooist, which is very rewarding in itself. So, it was important for me to include this in the paintings [which are repro- duced on the stamps.”
This is Paninnguaq’s second and third stamps since her stamp debut in 2019.
