HONOLULU (KHON2) — The 10th annual Hawaii Tattoo Expo or the Pacific Ink and Art Expo is bringing new things to the table this year, with their first-time showcase of a Native American artist.
For Native American artist Javier Reyes, the practice of tattooing is inherently cultural.
“Being a tattooer is in itself already has a lot of cultural ties within it,” Reyes said. “Throughout the history of tattooing, there is a lot of indigenous and Native American influence with a lot of old tatoos along with a lot of the newer school tattooers. So me, being a Native American tattooer, I like to bring them both together.”
Expos are not just opportunities for Reyes to share his art, they are opportunities for him to display unique abilities he possesses.
“Whenever I do a convention, I like to display my authentic abilities. Especially being a Native tattooer, there is not many of us. Professionally, there is not many of us,” Reyes said.
And bringing your whole culture, aside from tattooing, you are going to be sharing some of your dance or Powwow, if that is the right way to say it.
When you go back home after sharing your culture, what do you always hope is received by your audience or your customers?
In addition to tattooing, Reyes enjoys sharing other aspects of his culture, such as dancing, so that those he interacts with can take home a bit more with them than a cool tattoo.
“There is something, there is a strong feeling that goes in dancing. And not only just being a dancer yourself. Being somebody that watches the drums, the songs itself. They have a lot of power behind it and I get that every time that I dance at a show,” Reyes said. “In our Powwow dancing, we are told that we are dancing for the people. We are dancing for the people that cannot dance. We are dancing for the people who want to dance, so that makes me dance harder and enjoy it so much more. “
The expo will last until 11 p.m. on Aug. 1, and will run from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Aug. 2 and 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Aug. 3.
For more information, visit the expo’s website.