Viva Brighton Issue #38 April 2016

tattoo convention
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The Point of No Return
An inky adventure in Borneo
“It wasn’t the heat,” says Tom, on the difficulties
of filming in the Borneo jungle. “It was the
humidity, which was around 95%. The air was so
moist, sweat had nowhere to go. You turned into
a soggy sponge.”
Brighton-based filmmaker Tom J Kelly was with
tattooist Fade FX, filming the documentary Borneo
Tattoo - The Point of No Return, about the
hand-tap tattooing techniques practiced by the
Iban tribe, and the terrible effects that deforestation
is reaping on the Sarawak area of the island
where they live.
“The Malaysian government are very strict about
people filming anything about deforestation, so
I had to use a small camera that would pass as a
tourist one, and travel as light as possible,” says
Tom. “At one point my radio mic overheated and
stopped working. I put it in front of the fan for
four hours: luckily that did the trick.”
Another problem was the budget. “We had
£3,650, thanks to Skin Deep sponsoring us, and
a kick-starter campaign. But this didn’t even
stretch to paying for accommodation. And the
natives were very savvy about asking for money
to do interviews. A lot of tattoo tourists go out
there because some of the Iban tattooists have
become celebrities in that world. So they know
the value of their time.”
Tom and Fade spent some time in the Sarawak
capital, Kuching, then a week in an Iban tribal
village. One of Tom’s jobs was sorting the truth
from myth. “The tattooists have got used to
telling a souped-up story for the tourists. I had
to say ‘guys, it’s time for the true version. This is
your chance to tell your real story.’”
A big part of that story, which made up “about
25% of the footage” was the devastating effect
that government-endorsed deforestation is having
on the area. “The river running through the
village used to be clear; now it is brown. Fish
have become scarce.”
The tattoos are hand-tapped using two sticks
with nails on the end, and Fade, who fronts the
documentary, learnt this technique years ago in
the same place we are visiting. “It looks like it’s
going to be very painful,” says Tom, “but apparently
it is less so than a machine, as there is less
trauma to the skin.”
The tattoos, it turns out, were a very integral
part of Iban culture before the area was colonised
by Christian missionaries in the 50s. “The
oldest generation had them, but their children
didn’t. The next generation on was starting to
get interested in them again.
“The marks all have different significance; a
certain mark on the hand, for example, means
you have taken another man’s head. Another
mark shows you have travelled to another village.
Generally speaking, the more tattoos you have,
the richer and higher class you are.”
Alex Leith
The premiere of The Point of No Return will start
off the Brighton Tattoo Convention, Brighton
Centre, April 30th. kellyimages.co.uk
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