Trinidad and Tobago Tattoo Fest returns with more talent

GREVIC ALVARADO

The Trinidad and Tobago Tattoo Fest returns this weekend to the Centre of Excellence, Macoya, after four years.

Some 80 artists from 40 different studios will show their art on Saturday and Sunday from 1-11 pm.

Organiser Dominic Jaglal told Newsday local and international artists will come together to show off their different styles.

“This year the expectations are higher. It has been four years without holding the festival due to the covid19 pandemic, and in which we have made great advances in logistics and artistic matters,” he said.

This will be the fifth Tattoo Fest. This year artists from Venezuela, Cuba, St Lucia, Barbados, St Vincent, Curaçao, the UK, the US and a large number of local artists will participate.

“We will show the community the equipment used by the artists and the entire process before, during and after the art.

"It's not just about tattooing, it's an art festival, and that's why this year we have the support of various sponsors who believe in talent.”

Jaglal said the goal is to market tattooing and introduce artists to the community and showcase talent and styles so customers can have different visions of tattoos and what they like.

“There are very good vibes around the festival. They are mostly men, but we will have between five to ten female artists who are rising. We will have music, food sales, fashion, games among other activities so visitors have entertainment during the two days."

The Tattoo Fest will show the progress and growth of TT studios and teamwork between local and international artists.

One of the studios is Warao Ink, a brand that has been making its way in TT since 2019, when Ernest Romero, the director, came here from Venezuela and began to expand his talent.

Romero came as a guest of the Ink Overdose studio in 2017 and met someone who is now one of his partners, Chad Edwards.

“He was my client, we became friends, and we decided to open a studio with a different concept from how we perceived them at that time. We wanted a professional studio, not a store with more complete service dedicated to the client and we did it," said Romero.

Warao Ink opened its doors four years ago with a chair and tattoo stretcher (bed).

His wife Indira Velasquez is also a partner.

Romero started Warao Ink with Freidel Velásquez, another Venezuelan with whom he worked in Venezuela. Today Velásquez is still part of the Warao team, although as a business partner.

It now has two locations, at MovieTowne, Port of Spain and Gulf View, San Fernando.

Between the two venues there are six artists. In addition to Romero and Velásquez, they are accompanied by Joei Albornoz, Simón Ramos, Jesús Ramírez and Jade-Marie Ho (local) and a piercer Jorge Marcano.

Warao Ink also opened a space for emerging talent. Albornoz and Ramos began as students and are now part of the team. Three more students will start classes after Tattoo Fest.

Photorealism is Warao's forte.

"It is more complicated to replicate a photo and make it look identical, and that is what identifies our artists.

"We also do all kinds of tattoos and that makes us diverse in order to serve the public. We advise and guide clients with dedication to improve each day. We are a professional work team and we have a big project that has been taken on by sponsors, so that our brand can grow. It is a vision that involves many things,"

Warao Ink will take its whole team to the Tattoo Fest, with the support of Monster Energy, one of its sponsors.

"It's two days' tattooing, with customer services for people looking to get tattooed at that time. We will have special prices. We will also have the option to participate in individual competitions."

Romero has won three prizes in different tattoo categories, and Velásquez with portraits in realism.

Also at the Tattoo Fest will be Kerwin Figaro, who has been one of Romero's main support and whom he admires as a person and artist.

Figaro has been tattooing for 15 years and has his own studio in Aranguez. He has participated in the festival since it began in 2012.

“I think it is a good time to show what progress has been made in these years. I have been to Barbados in past years to participate, and this is a good year to show the TT community the growth of art. It is good to show the public what you do and they see there is talent in TT,” said Figaro.

His work is predominantly white and grey, but he also dabbles in Japanese art.

He believes the TT tattoo industry is still young but there is talent to make local tattooing a great industry internationally.

“There are many young people learning, and I am one of those teachers who likes to teach.”

He believes the presence of international artists is of great help.

“We have artists from Venezuela, Cuba and many other countries who have come to work here seriously and show how good they are, and that helps us all.”

Shane Singh and Ramón González from the St Augustine-based Studio FX are also looking forward to the return of the festival.

Singh and González offer graphic design, realism and the combination of styles to the public.

“The studio opened in 2013 and since then we have been improving over the years. The Tattoo Fest has been a good showcase to show what we do and this year will be better,” said Singh.

He has shown his art in Barbados, England and Canada.

González helps him with the management of the studio and they also produce a special cream to use after a tattoo, called Smooth.

“It is an own brand that has won awards at international festivals,” González said.

They hope the TT Tattoo Fest will be as success as previous years