March is set to see the 7th installment of the annual artistic collective known as the Cool Inc Tattoo Expo taking place at the Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria. Tattoo artists gather from all over the country to meet under the Jacaranda trees at the oldest monolith in Pretoria in celebration of the art of ink on skin.
It's a three-day event, filled with talented tattoo artists, live suspension shows throughout the weekend, tattoo judging competitions, live band performances, a metal tribute show and a wide variety of trader stalls that range from niche jewellery art to artisanal beard-care products and clothing.
Cool Inc started as a concept for tattoo artists to gain a platform to show-case their skills to a larger audience and to create a unified gathering where friends and colleagues get together in celebration of a previously shunned art form. Having become so popular, the annual convention moved to a larger venue to cater for the ever-grown tattoo-community.
Tattoos having been initially shunned by the mainstream and conservative populace, has experienced a rapid growth in popularity and has become socially acceptable with fans of the art no longer having to hide away their fevered appreciation of an art-form that has been with us for well over 5,000 years. No longer reserved for only the manliest of bikers and hardened criminals, models, actors, parents and well respected members of community now all proudly sport their collection of art.
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