Tattoos one of humanity’s oldest forms of expression. Throughout history, tattoos have been used to mark identity, life transitions, spirituality, and social belonging. In many cultures, they also function as a living language passed between generations.
In TATAU, we meet women from Tahiti, Canada, Kurdistan, North Africa, the Balkans, the Arctic, Asia, New Zealand, and Sweden. Their tattoos carry stories of family, motherhood, spirituality, resistance, and cultural identity. Many of these tattooing traditions have been threatened or suppressed through colonialism, religious norms, and social change, but are today being revived by new generations.
The exhibition also highlights women’s role in tattoo history – both as carriers of tradition and as active agents in the renewal of cultural expression. Here, tattooing emerges as a tool for memory, healing, and resistance, as well as a way of reconnecting with roots and creating meaning in the present.
TATAU shows that tattoos are more than images on the skin. They are living cultural heritage and personal stories of freedom, identity, and belonging – shaped over time, yet carried in the present.
TATAU is produced by the National Museums of World Culture, Sweden, 2026.
