Great-grandmother’’s Tattoos, 2024

Digital illustration of my great grandmother using ProCreate on iPad Pro

This Project explores Bedouin tattoos, particularly those worn by my great-grandmother. The Bedouins in Syria, especially in the region of Raqqa, are part of a broader Bedouin culture that spans Southwest Asia and North Africa (SWANA). The term "Bedouin" (from the Arabic "badawī," meaning "desert dweller") refers to nomadic or semi-nomadic Arab tribes traditionally living in desert regions. These tattoos serve not merely as a form of personal adornment but also as symbols of tribal affiliation, social status, and rites of passage.

Within my clan and the broader Arab Bedouin culture, this tattoo tradition has largely faded due to the impacts of Western colonization, religious prohibitions, social discrimination, and the forces of modernization, urbanization, and sedentarization. Through a series of illustrations derived from family archives that showcase these tattoos, I seek not only to document this disappearing cultural practice but also to actively resist its erasure, preserving a vital aspect of Arab Bedouin heritage

Hands and face tattoos from the tribes and clans within my region of northern Syria. Digital illustration on iPad Pro using ProCreate.

21.0 x 29.7 cm

Great-grandmother portrait at age 102 taken by me, days before ISIS seized Raqqa city.

Tattooing among both men and women is an integral part of Bedouin culture, particularly among those living in the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula. Despite the religious prohibition against tattoos, many tribal Arabs choose to inscribe themselves on their face, ankles, wrists and other body parts, in order to ward off evil forces, give the person wearing the tattoo strength, and to protect them in battle. Markings on the wrist, for example, were said to strengthen the person’s hand, enabling them to milk their livestock more easily. Some Bedouin tribes also believe that markings will cure them of ailments, and symbols such as dots on the side of the head or above their eyes are said to heal a person's aches and pains. 

While traditions vary among tribes, in some communities, a Bedouin girl's tattoos are chosen by her mother and are selected on the basis of a trait the parent would like to see in their child. For example, a dot on the nose means the hope of a long life for the child. The markings also serve as a system of tribal identification and it is possible for learned Bedouins to determine a person's tribe through the tattoos they have. In some cases, animals were also depicted in tattoos, for instance, the image of a gazelle would demonstrate grace and beauty.

A view from the exhibition Great-grandmother’s Tattoos at Sta. Demonia queer art gallery in Stockholm, 2024

Poster of the exhibition