Nepal tattoo

 

Rise Nepal.

 



On the 25th of April, I took the bus from Pokhara to Kathmandu for the 5th Nepal International Tattoo convention. Since the first one, I only missed one convention. In the tattoo world since a couple decades, I am not a convention type person. I only went to the Paris Mondial du tatouage a couple years ago, and to the Kathmandu conventions. I'd rather be in the privacy of the shops.

I remember the first one years ago. Thanks to Mohan Gurung's team, it was a week and more of nepale artist meeting each other for the first time. As tattoo is ancient tradition in Nepal, the modern tattoo world is just discovering it. Each year the convention becomes a meeting of old time freaks, long time travelers and of course plenty of tattoo artists. They meet in the Yak and Yeti hotel, a superb 5 star hotel on King's Road, filled with old photos of Once upon a time in Nepal. If the convention is filled with many buddhas, shivas, ganesh and other popular god figures, the modern touch shows it's way. People like Alchemink and Kenji Alucky with Black Ink Power represent amongst others the modern and ancient tattoo scene mixed together in the best of ways. The london based KaliTattoo studio has been present every year, with the scarcification and silicones implants. Many names pass through every year, and it is always a time to meet new friends and to enjoy some time with those that came from far to visit for the occasion. April is freak time in the city of a 1000 gods, Kathmandu, and this year sure was a special one...

Tattoo: the 10th art?

 

Panam, the old Paris. Quaie Branly Museum, Tintin, the famous Hell's Angel of the tattoo world, organized a retrospective of the tattoo arts. I put Grouch on my headphones and walk the quais. The sky is as blue as blue gets, the river Seine shines, it's morning time, the museum opens it's doors. The quain Branly Museum is home to the traditional arts, the old forgotten stuff that makes us dream of the once upon a time. In a square modern building, the sculpted bones, shamanic masks and ancient fabrics take us through a journey back in the river of time.

Flower back study

Back study...

Women tattoo nepal

In 2011, 2 nepale friends and I went on a walk. My friends wanted to visit western Nepal, the most remote area of the country. In western Nepal, there are few GNO's and the development goes slowly, most of the NGO's being in the eastern part of the country. The area, is a strong center for the maoist forces, and during the war many schools were destroyed, and many villages deserted. Now, the war finished, and new Nepal in the making, the west is the least developped, making it the wild wild west that few visit.

A round the world...

"Strange - is it not? That of the myriads who Before us passed the door of Darkness through, Not one returns to tell us of the road Which to discover we must travel too."
Horace

Le voyage, c'est l'acceptance de l'incertitude...faut continuer de bouger, comme une feuille au vent, les evenements me porte, et je me laisse gaiment porter. Bientot, les sacs seront refait, encore une chambre a quitter, une autre a retrouver. Encore une vie a recommencer. Combien de vies peut on avoir en une vie? Un nombre infinis...
Je vais quitter ces belles montagnes de l'Himalaya qui m'ont acceuillies tant bien que mal, pour retrouver une douce Normandie aux paturages verts. Les momos deviendront des raviolis, le riz se transformera en baguette, et je baignerais dans la lumiere artificielle de la fee electrique. Dans mon sac a dos, j'emmenerais des souvenirs et autres babiolles qui font la vie, quelques couleures et autres bijoux, un compagnon, et quelques annees en plus.
Rien ne me manque, tout me manque, je tourne les pages du livre de la vie, comme un roman d'aventure. Je ne sais jamais ou je vais, je sais ou je suis, ici, c'est tout. Je n'aime rien en tout aimant, les choses passent dans leur impermanence permanente, et je continue de mettre un pied devant l'autre...avancant pour allez nulle part, ici et la...j'ere en nomade sedentaire...car le voyage, je ne l'ai jamais vraiment aime, mais ca c'est une autre page...c'est "l'ordre du chaos" comme ecrit mon ami...

Ink

 Meanwhile, at Funky Buddha Tattoo shop, the ink keeps going. 

Portraits pass, mam, wife, kid, grandparents get etched in the skin.

 Trees and roots keep on growing.

And Shiva sings Om Mane Padme Om...

Henna feet

 Making henna design on Lisa's foot, in Arambol, Goa.

Et voila!

Garuda

Pendant ce temps, au magazin de tatouage, les images defilent...

Ici, un superbe Garuda, la monture du dieu hindu Vishnu.

Lion and eagle

A leo. 3 needles.

Eagle and stars. 3 needles.