Yesterday evening Jens-Uwe Parkitny launched his photography exhibition "Marked for Life" presenting photographs of Myanmar's Chin Women and their face tattoos at the Goethe Institut, Yangon (event page here).
Very interesting event! We admired beautiful photographs and learnt about this old tradition which is not anymore practiced today. The patterns used for the tattoos are also weaved in the Chin traditional fabrics. About the face tattoos Jens-Uwe said in an interview: "facial tattooing symbolized group affiliation and identity, expressed
beliefs in spirits and an animated nature, as well as signaled
accomplishments of certain stages or achievements in the life of the
bearer. It was often part of the rite de passage from girl to womanhood or boy
to warrior. Last but not least, among the ethnic groups that have
practiced facial tattooing, it is also an expression of a beauty
perception that is different from ours." (the full interview, more on the photographer and on his long running project here)
I highly recommend to visit this exhibitions which runs until the 8th of April at the Goethe Institut.
Yes, the Opening reception for Photos was just blasting. My brother is a photographer and he also took part in this exhibition. I attend many such events at local gallery venues as we get a lot of inspiration from these events.
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