The first thing that amazed me when I arrived at the port of Thessaloniki was the amazing space and everything surrounding it. My surprise continued when I also entered warehouse C where Thessalonink was taking place. I came across an architecturally beautiful building with a fine space layout so as the visitor could move around with ease, visit all the stalls and be able to get close to the stage so as to see the competition tattoos up close.
All the stalls with the tattoo artists, supplies, HeartbeatInk Tattoo Magazine’s booth and the stage where the competitions and award ceremony took place were all inside this two story building.
Outside was the DJ booth, where various DJs took over the decks during the day, food and drink kiosks, Sailor Jerry Rum shots on the house, clothing kiosks, surfaces for graffiti use and of course the evening’s concert stage.
Thessalonink was a big celebration, accessible and friendly to everyone and the overall atmosphere was very positive.
Throughout the three - day festival, thousands of people of all ages, with or without tattoos, visited Thessalonink. Specifically, the Japanese performer Sana Sakura mentioned that it was the first time she had performed at a tattoo convention, which had such a versatile audience. We also saw many families and regnant women. The fact that all the spaces during the festival – indoors and outdoors – where accessible to disabled people was extremely important.
Furthermore, the German journalist and photographer Travelin’ Mick – a very important persona in the world of tattoo - was invited to the festival. Sana Sakura, a well-known modern dance performer from Tokyo, was also invited and she gave two different performances during Thessalonink.
Life achievement wards were given to some individuals who have been catalytic for Greek (and not only) tattoo, as a show of respect for their work. Specifically, Jimmy’s, Nikos Katsoulis, Mike the Athens, Magaret, Vasilis Exarchos, the late Andreas Marnezos and the late Savvas Papanikolaou were all given those awards.
HeartbeatInk Tattoo Magazine participated in Thessalonink with its own booth. We would like to thank George Mavridis for the invitation and hospitality and to congratulate the three organizers George Mavridis, Fotis Lazos and Kostas Xanthopoulos as well as the entire team of Thessalonink and everyone who worked to make it happen and we hope that it will become an institution in its own right.
Words & photos: Ino Mei.
Concert photos: Vaggelis Xafinis.
