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Skindigenous

SKINDIGENOUS is a series of 13 half-hour documentaries on the art of tattooing as practiced by indigenous peoples around the world. Each episode dives into a unique indigenous culture to discover the tools and techniques, and the symbols and traditions that shape their tattooing art. The art of the tattoo becomes a lens for exploring some of the planet's oldest cultures and their unique perspectives on life, identity, and the natural world.

Skindigenous  
  • Taiwan
    Sunday, March 22
    8:30 pm on UEN-TV 9.1
    Written and directed by Randy Kelly. The Paiwan people are one of about 20 Indigenous minorities who make up roughly 3 percent of the population of Taiwan. When Cudjuy Patjidres discovered that his Paiwanese ancestors had a tattoo culture, he was surprised and amazed. Having developed his artistic skills from watching his grandfather weave and carve wood, he is now dedicated to preserving the ancient symbols and designs that were once common on the island.

 

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  • India
    Sunday, March 15
    8:30 pm on FNX 9.3
    Written and directed by Randy Kelly. Mo Naga is a traditional tattoo artist from Manipur, in the lush North East Region of India on the Myanmar border. While studying fashion design in his early 20s, Mo Naga stumbled across some interesting Naga textile designs and quickly realized their cultural importance. He gradually started researching, archiving and preserving them. His creativity and love for tattoos led him to create a neo-Naga style of design. Mo Naga now works diligently from his New Delhi tattoo studio reviving the traditional Naga tattoo culture of his people and the whole North East Region of India.
  • New Mexico
    Sunday, March 8
    8:30 pm on UEN-TV 9.1
    Written and directed by Angie-Pepper O'Bomsawin. Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Stephanie Big Eagle grew up astray from her identity. She reconnected with her culture when she rekindled relationships in her home community, the Yankton Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. She immersed herself in the fight for aboriginal rights and became a prominent figure in the Dakota pipeline protests, where her thunder hawk hand poke design became a symbol of the standoff. Stephanie found her calling as an environmental and Indigenous activist and full-time hand poke tattoo artist. She sees the revitalization of hand poke as a gift to be offered with love, gratitude, and respect, particularly for the ancestors.
  • Kahnawake
    Sunday, March 1
    8:30 pm on FNX 9.3
    Written and directed by Roxann Whitebean. The Haudenosaunee Confederacy is a matrilineal society consisting of five founding Nations who later adopted a sixth nation to join their family. Kanentokon Hemlock is a traditional Bear clan representative from the Mohawk Nation at Kahnawake, a small community located outside Montreal. Their traditional territory is divided between present-day Quebec, Ontario and New York State. From a young age, Kanentokon was fascinated by his culture. He began the art of tattooing to revitalize the lost tradition and ancient protocols. In this episode, he invites us to witness the first tattooing in a longhouse in roughly 300 years.
  • Los Angeles
    Sunday, February 22
    8:30 pm on UEN-TV 9.1
    Written and directed by Jason Brennan. Two Ravens is an Opata tattoo artist based in East Los Angeles. As an activist, he was injured at Standing Rock while defending land rights in North Dakota. He continues to use his art to unite and help Indigenous Americans in L. A. and across the U.S. reclaim their origins.
  • Tunisia
    Sunday, February 15
    8:30 pm on FNX 9.3
    Written and directed by Sara Ben-Saud. Manel Mahdouani is a tattoo artist living in Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. As a descendent of the Amazigh people native to North Africa, Manel specializes in Amazigh tattoos. With tattooing traditions no longer practiced, her grandmother's generation are the last to carry the traditional designs and knowledge. Since many still depend on oral transmission of their cultural knowledge, Manel travels to remote villages and searches for the knowledge found in the collective memory of elderly people. When she finds a tattoo, she takes pictures and adds it to her research. She then modernizes the design for present-day reproduction. Manel is the only person archiving traditional Amazigh tattoos.
  • Haida Gwaii
    Sunday, February 8
    8:30 pm on FNX 9.3
    Written and directed by Courtney Montour. When Haida artist Kwiaahwah Jones picked up the needle and traditional Haida tattoo practices that were once outlawed, she inspired a whole new generation to embrace their Haida culture and make it their own. She has curated Haida art exhibits across Canada but found her true calling in Haida hand poke tattoos. Tattooing was an important part of Haida culture, signifying family lineage and rank in society. Kwiaahwah draws inspiration from being out on the land and water in Haida Gwaii. She sees the revitalization of Haida tattooing as a reconnection to her ancestors.
  • Amsterdam
    Sunday, February 1
    8:30 pm on UEN-TV 9.1
    Written and directed by Randy Kelly. In the 1950s, warriors from the Dutch-controlled Maluku islands who were fighting alongside Dutch soldiers against the Indonesians were brought back to the Netherlands by force. As a descendant of that Moluccan diaspora, Joe Patty-Sabandar has been rediscovering and reconnecting with his traditional ancestral culture. As a tattoo artist, he is very keen to preserve and share Moluccan culture as it existed before the Portuguese colonized the Maluku islands. He is part of a group of third and fourth generation Dutch-Moluccans who are thirsty for knowledge and the ancient culture of their homeland.