Ukraine’s love affair with tattoos

The latest tattoo festival that took place in Kyiv on Sept. 19 proved that all kinds of Ukrainians are fond of tattooing their bodies – from respectful businessmen, who get exclusive ornaments tattooed on them by high-paid artists, to military men fond of the patriotic tattoos.

Because of the growing popularity, tattoo salons seem to be doing well even as many other businesses in Ukraine suffer from the economic crisis and political turmoil.

Nikita Shayda, 21-year old university student majoring in psychology, has recently decided to tattoo his whole back. He already has tattoos shaped like ink marks on his arms and legs.

“My friend is a tattoo artist and this was his initiative,” said Shayda, almost faint, while four tattoo artists were working on his back during the first day of the tattoo festival.

The design he chose featured Buddhism motives: it was a spiritual symbol of Mandala that grows from skull with geometric pattern around it. Shayda said it wasn’t merely “a decoration” for him, but an important symbol.

Shayda prefers mono-color symbolic tattoos on a torso – the choice of many Ukrainian men.

”Men want to look more courageous, that’s why they choose tattoo on the upper part of the body, while women choose tattoos on waist and hips to look more tiny and feminine,” said Kai Uwe Faust, tattoo artist from Denmark who came to Ukraine for the third time for the festival on Sept. 19.

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Kai says that he works in “ancient style of tattooing,” using only one colour. One of his Ukrainian clients at the festival paid some Hr 2,000 to get a tattoo on his arm – almost twice more than a minimal price on such service in Ukraine. The client, named Oleh, refused to share his last name, saying the publicity in such context could harm his work as a CEO of an FMCG company.

The tattoo prices vary within a broad range. It starts at Hr 550 for a small tattoo or Hr 1,200 per session and goes up to $2,000-3,000 for large and complicated drawings by a respected master.

Interestingly, some of the Ukraine’s seemingly conservative politicians have tattoos too. Former head of parliament Volodymyr Rybak, who fled the country after the EuroMaidan Revolution  confessed in an interview that he had a “V” (cyrillic “B”) letter tattoo on his left hand that he made himself when he was serving in the army in 1966. Former Kharkiv governor Mykhailo Dobkin was spotted with a cobra tattoo on his left shoulder, while former deputy mayor of Kyiv Irena Kilchytska got ladybugs tattoo on her left leg.

Still, the people in tattoo business say that many clients prefer the tattoos that can be easily covered with clothes.

“Employers still treat people with tattoos skeptically,” said Tetyana Boyko, sales manager of advertising agency and tattoo enthusiast.

Kyiv Post staff writer Iana Koretska can be reached at koretska@kyivpost.com.