The mark of Cain: the russian criminal tattoos (III)

The mark of Cain: the russian criminal tattoo, episode 3. The first episode can be seen here and the second episode can be seen here.

Extras from this episode: The lowest category in the criminal world are the so-called Downcast. The men in the colony who fulfill, mostly by force, the female role. [...] These people (the Downcast) live separately, they eat separately,they sit apart in the mess hall. They don't have the right to look in the eyes of the other convicts. [...] Sometimes they have humiliating words (like slave, or bitch) tattooed on their faces, so they can be easily recognized when they arrive in a new prison.

The mark of Cain: the russian criminal tattoos (II)

The mark of Cain: the russian criminal tattoo, episode 2. The first episode can be seen here.

Did you know...?

- the cross is one of the most popular tattoo designs among the russian convicts. If an inmate has a tattoo with the representation of the crucifixion of Christ, it means that he (the inmate) is the leader of a criminal organization

The Mark of Cain: the Russian criminal tattoos (I)

The Mark of Cain documents the fading art form and the Russian criminal tattoos, once a taboo subject in Russia. The virtual disappearance is now seen as a reflection of the transition of Russian society in general. Filmed in some of the most notorious prisons in Russia, including the famous White Swan, interviews with prisoners, guards, and criminologists show the secret language of the area and the Code

Stalinist Gulag inmates, or the area, as it is called, has developed a complex social structure (documented in the decade of 1920) that incorporated highly symbolic tattooing as a mark of rank. The existence of these inmates in prisons and labor camps was considered by the state as a closely guarded secret.

In the 1990s, the population of Russia broke jail overcrowding among the worst in the world. Some estimates suggest that in the last generation of over thirty million of Russia’s inmates have had tattoos, but the process is illegal in Russian prisons.

The Mark of Cain discusses all aspects of tattooing, the mere creation of the tattoo ink, tattoo artists interviews and sobriety seen in the double-edged sword of tattoos in prison. In many ways, which is needed to survive brutal Russian prisons, but it makes the prisoner for life, which complicates any reentry into normal society they may have.

Did wou know...?

- a tattoo with a proeminent personality of the comunism (like Lenin, Stalin, Marx and Engels) could be a "safety warrant" against the capital punishment (because no one dared to shoot the image of a great comunist leader)

- a tattoo is like an ID, it can be read like a book and tells everything about a convict

- an executioner tattooed on the forearm means that the person is a killer (usually in the service of a gang)

- a sailing ship is the symbol of a roaming life

A tattoo for those who love the japanese poetry (1)

Hi!

Here's my last tattoo-design for those who love Japan and the japanese culture: a haiku written by Kobayshi Issa: "Yo no naka wa / Jigoku no ue no / Hanami kana" = In this world, We walk above the hell, Gazing at flowers (or: In this world / We walk on the roof of Hell / Gazing at flowers)". The second translation is more beautiful but less correct: "ue" means "above; up; over", no roof.

First, let's see the design:

In the image above are two variants of the same Haiku. There is a little difference between these two variants - the last word of the third verse is written in hiragana in the first variant (in the right side of the image) and  in kanji in the second variant (in the lest side of the image). Both variants are correct - the word "kana" (an emphatic word, equivalent with "Alas!") can be written in kanji, but usually is written in hiragana.

In the image above, I've split the Haiku in three lines (following the three phrases of the Haiku); anyway, traditionally, the Haiku were printed in a single vertical line, like this:

The Haiku written on a single vertical line. In this variant, I've written the last word of the Haiku in hiragana. (there are 3 lines because I've written the same Haiku with 3 types of fonts - just choose the one you like the most):

The Haiku written on a single vertical line. In this variant, I've written the last word of the Haiku in kanji. (there are 3 lines because I've written the same Haiku with 3 types of fonts - just choose the one you like the most):