'I Will Always Have You’ exhibition opens at Knowle West Media Centre

On September 11th the “I Will Always Have You’ exhibition was launched at Knowle West Media Centre. The exhibition is the culmination of a few months of research within the Knowle West community, documenting the tattoos of local residents and examining their personal narratives. In collaboration with KWMC and digital agency Play Nicely, we created a mobile tattoo parlour that toured Bristol collecting pieces of body art and the stories behind them. We chose eight of the most fascinating stories and have presented them in the exhibition as audio interviews, alongside photographs and personal ephemera that highlight each extraordinary individual and their tattoos.

The launch event included live and close up tattooing by Tim Allen from Marked Up Tattoo Studio in Knowle West, an in-conversation with Tim and Chantelle Simpson, who was having the tattoo, and a talk by Dr John Troyer from the Centre for Death and Society exploring the history and cultural roles of memorial tattoos.

Alongside the interviews, the exhibition also includes interactive installations, created by Play Nicely, where visitors can control large-scale 3D avatars bearing miniature versions of the collected tattoos.

The exhibition is running daily until 19th December 2014.