For more than 5,000 years, tattoos have helped document the history of humanity one painful mark at a time. Today, tattoos have never been more popular, but they are so much more than decoration. They are a powerful visual language of the skin, and, like texts, they permanently record memories, life stories, and personal achievements.

Examine personal and collective acts of human transformation through tattoo traditions of indigenous peoples and other tattoo communities, past and present. Throughout history, people have tattooed themselves to beautify, heal, empower, or carry the body into the afterlife. This exhibition shares the ways individual and group identities are formed, reinforced, and celebrated through tattoos.
This ongoing journey has been curated by Dr. Lars Krutak, renowned anthropologist and Research Associate at the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico, to understand how ancient and more contemporary tattoos “make” the people who wear them.
Tattoo: Identity Through Ink is organized by Vesterheim, the national Norwegian-American Museum and Folk Art School and is made possible by the generous support of Jon and Mary Hart.