10th International Nepal Tattoo Convention

The tenth edition of Internation Nepal Tattoo Convention was hosted in Lalitpur (Patan) on 7th, 8th, and 9th April, 2023. As the event neared, nearly everyone whom I knew at my hostel was mentioning attending the convention. This fuelled my curiosity and I prepared myself to pay the event a visit, even though I had planned to mostly relax during my short visit to Kathmandu this time.

The visit to the tattoo convention was one of a kind – I was seeing so many people doing tattoos for the first time. As people I visited the event with got busy meeting tattoo artists to discuss ideas for their next tattoo, I walked around. I passed by stalls, curiously observing, and photographing as needles poked the bodies, turning the pain into a piece of artwork.

“So, do you have any tattoos?” I was asked a number of times. Followed by my negative reply would be the next question – “When are you getting one?”

“I am an admirer. I don’t see myself getting a tattoo in the near future,” I would say, diverting the conversation to talk about different tattoos I found interesting on people.