arena berlin – 21st Century Expat

Today, I went to the Tattoo Convention at Arena Berlin, starting off with a walk at Treptow Fields before turning around to Arena Berlin.

Treptow Fields and Arena Berlin

Treptow Field overlooking towards Fernsehturm Berlin

Arena Berlin is a pretty cool event space. Here’s what it looks like on the outside:

Treptower Art Center GmbH

On the way, I came across a flea market called Treptower Art Center GmbH. It was a mix of a lot of things – from really old furniture, lamps, second-hand clothes, right through to bikes and random tools. Managed to have a brief conversation with an old Turkish woman who only spoke German to me. We managed to communicate a bit, and I even understood her when I asked about what dates they were open (only Saturday and Sunday).

They actually have some nice, antiques stuff.

There is nothing totally more Berlin than a stack of bikes in a flea market hall

Berlin Tattoo Convention

Entry starts from 19 euros.

The Berlin Tattoo Convention is a yearly event (alongside other similar events in Thailand and Norway) gathering together tattoo artists, enthusiasts and hardcore fans alike.

The hall is lined with stalls filled with studios and artists. Each stall has a chair and a tattoo artist focusing intently on his / her piece. The tables contain business cards, postcard, calendars, printouts, tattoo design printouts, portfolio books of either drawing-based designs or photos of past ink pieces.

There are also stalls for the professionals – from tattoo inks to tattoo machine guns – as well as other stalls that would appeal to the whole body art / body modification scene like body piercing jewellery (there was even a pop up body piercing studio), merchandise and tattoo self-care products.

Mid-afternoon, the organisers invited dozens of enthusiasts up on stage to show their pieces.

Overall, it was a really comfortable type of day. Felt like everyone there was comfortable, in fact I have never felt more safer and ‘in the crowd’ than in a tattoo convention.

I myself am not even inked, and I’ve never actually been inside a tattoo studio let alone seen someone tattooed live. My only association with studios before this were the ‘mass consumerist’ / hairstudio-in-Walmart type. It’s the type that would have a folder of tattoos and you get one done based on a set design. Whereas the studios at this convention took a lot of pride in their craft.