Tattooing, Land & Lineage: Indigenous Practices from India
In this short, image-driven talk, Swasthik Iyengar explores Indigenous tattooing traditions from specific tribal communities in India, drawing from personal heritage, family lineage, and firsthand travel experience.

Through printed photographs and physical reference materials, Swasthik will discuss how tattooing functions within these tribes as a cultural system — tied to land, identity, gender, and survival. Topics include why full body tattooing is traditionally practiced by women beginning at a young age, the symbolic meanings behind the markings, how tattoo tools and inks are made, and the social role tattooing plays within the tribe.

The talk concludes by connecting these ancestral practices to Swasthik’s own contemporary work, examining how Indigenous Indian tattoo language informs his American traditional, tribal tattooing, and painting today.

This is an informal, visual, and highly accessible 20–30 minute session designed for artists, collectors, and anyone curious about tattoo history beyond the Western canon — nerdy, informative, and rooted in lived experience.