I have to get a tattoo before I die

 

That’s one thing off my bucket list! The tattoo is increasingly making its way to the list of experiences and achievements that many in Kampala hope to accomplish during their lifetime. 
 

Traditionally, many Ugandans’ bucket list will have tasks like acquiring assets including land, getting married to start a family and attaining success in their careers or businesses. But for many teenagers and young professionals in the city today, getting a tattoo is high up that bucket list and this is why.

We had a few conversations with young professionals in Kampala that recently got tattooed. Rose (not her real names) is a 25 year old social media executive in Kampala. She got her first tattoo at the age of 17 before leaving for her first trip to the United Kingdom to study at the university.  She says she wanted to take something that she would always have and zeroed in on a tattoo because she had always wanted to have one.

 

Darlyne Komukama got her first tattoo in 2009 when she was having a ‘quarter life’ crisis. She was 25 and had not achieved most of the things she had set out to achieve and getting the tattoo was the easiest thing to rectify. And so she got the Mandarin symbol for eternity.
 

Immaculate Giwu, an administrative clerk with the Vision Group, the leading media house in Uganda, also got her first tattoo in 2009. She says she had always wanted to do a tattoo but had been restrained by her parents. When she had well attained her adulthood and the right to make independent choices, a tattoo was high on her list of priorities.

 

 

On the day, we visit Ink256, a tattoo parlour on Equatorial Mall along Kampala Road, we find a client who is getting a compass tattoo on the left leg. While he is not comfortable with showing his face, he is courteous enough to let us film the tattooing job itself. He explains to us that the compass tattoo represents the need for direction in his life. He adds that all the body art tells the story of different stages of his life including dropping out of school, rebellion, struggle and triumph.

One of the things that Hummerton Kazibwe, the tattoo artist in this studio is keen on is that all his clients have to sign a consent form before the tattooing gets underway.

 

“Tattooing is not a lifestyle procedure. It is a medical procedure that should be handled with utmost care and professionalism”, says Hummerton Kazibwe.
 

Hummerton is very passionate while explaining the reason hygiene is important in a tattoo studio and throughout the tattooing procedure. He explains that because the tattoo gun goes underneath the skin, there is a risk of infection when getting a tattoo. Hummerton prescribes that clients should check for a steriliser, disinfectants and a single needle use system before getting a tattoo jab done from a tattoo studio.
 

While Hummerton believes Hygiene should be the single most important factor to consider when choosing a tattoo parlour, most of the tattooed people we spoke to never had hygiene on their list of factors considered before getting a tattoo.

Rose cited cost and professionalism of the artist as the factors she considered.  Many other people we spoke to had a friend who called up a tattoo artist to do the tattoo job from the homes or workplaces of the clients. The only factors considered in such cases are cost and convenience.

 

From being called devil worshipers to being dismissed as wasted youth, tattoo bearers have endured decades of discrimination. One would therefore be surprised at the meanings that these tattoo ninjas attach to their body art.

Immaculate says her tattoo which is a combined rose flower and treble clef is symbolic of her love for nature and music. 

 

She says her family who hands restrained for years were surprisingly happy about her tattoo job and her friends were inspired to do get their own tattoos. Her employer is progressive and had no misgivings whatsoever about her tattoo.

Telma Olive, a 25year old fashion designer and entrepreneur in Kampala, got her first tattoo at 18 and her parents were mad. She says they were only pacified by her explanation that the dove with an olive branch tattoo is Christian.

 

Now on her third tattoo, Telma is still going to be wearing clothes that cover up when she’s around old people. Telma interestingly does her tattoos to cover up body imperfections. She has done a tattoo on the thigh to cover up a scar and her latest is covering a birthmark.

 

Hummerton receives an average of 15 clients per week, and so does Sizzy of Kla Ink studio, another leading tattoo parlour in the city.
 

With starting prices of 100,000 for a simple tattoo, Hummerton and his fellow artists are raking in revenues of at least 6 million per month.
 

With no shortage of people yearning to be tattooed, Hummerton believes the industry can only get bigger. He only prays that clients and other tattoo artists will be keener on hygiene and professionalism. 
 

The regulation of the tattooing business in Uganda is also lacking as the government categorises tattooing as a lifestyle product like plaiting hair which Hummerton believes is misleading since tattooing is more of a medical procedure than a lifestyle procedure. He hopes that government can reclassify the tattooing business and is already working towards forming a professional tattoo artists’ association that will police standards and best practice in the industry.