- Title: Young tattooist "breaks barriers" by inking Iraqi protesters
- Date: 26th December 2019
- Summary: BAGHDAD, IRAQ (DECEMBER 23, 2019) (REUTERS) TATTOO ON BACK OF PROTESTER, ALI MUSHTAQ, SHOWING IRAQ'S MAP READING (Arabic): "The revolution: October 25" / YOUNG IRAQI TATTOO ARTIST, MARAM, INKING MUSHTAQ'S BACK AT TENT IN BAGHDAD'S TAHRIR SQUARE MARAM INKING MUSHTAQ'S BACK MARAM INKING MUSHTAQ'S BACK / MARAM DIPPING MACHINE IN INK AND INKING MUSHTAQ'S BACK AGAIN VARIOUS OF MARAM INKING MUSHTAQ'S BACK (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) YOUNG IRAQI TATTOO ARTIST, MARAM, SAYING: "I wanted to change the society's idea about young girls. I don't think that a girl can ink a boy, especially in such a place and revolution. So I wanted to break this barrier." TATTOO INKED ON BACK OF PROTESTER READING (Arabic): "October 25" / MARAM INKING MUSHTAQ'S BACK MUSHTAQ / PROTESTERS WAITING TO BE TATTOOED AT TENT MARAM INKING MUSHTAQ'S BACK MARAM INKING MUSHTAQ'S BACK / PROTESTERS SITTING AT TENT (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) YOUNG IRAQI TATTOO ARTIST, MARAM, SAYING: "I can't stay at Tahrir (Square), so those young men are protesting for my sake and for the sake of others, and for our cause. So the simplest thing that I can contribute with is the tattoos." CLOTHES HANGING / MARAM INKING MUSHTAQ'S BACK VARIOUS OF MARAM INKING MUSHTAQ'S BACK (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PROTESTER, ALI MUSHTAQ, SAYING: "Maram setting here and making tattoos may sound strange for people, but for us (protesters), it is not strange. This is our revolution, everyone should protest (including) children, old people, girls, boys, everyone, so that this revolution continues. This is our generation and this is our revolution." VARIOUS OF MARAM AND MUSHTAQ WALKING AROUND PROTEST SITE MARAM LOOKING AT PICTURES ON DISPLAY AT PROTEST SITE MARAM WALKING AROUND PROTEST SITE MARAM TALKING WITH PROTESTERS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) YOUNG IRAQI TATTOO ARTIST, MARAM, SAYING: "The youth usually ask for tattoos related to the revolution, like Tahrir Square, Iraq's map, October revolution, whether in English or Arabic, or any important date that reminds them of their lives in order to make them stronger." MARAM FIXING INKING INSTRUMENT MARAM DIPPING INSTRUMENT IN INK / MARAM INKING MUSHTAQ'S BACK MARAM INKING MUSHTAQ'S BACK / TATTOO ON MUSHTAQ'S BACK
- Embargoed: 9th January 2020 13:16
- Keywords: Iraq protests Iraqi tattoo artists Tattoo artists in Iraq Tattooist in Iraq Tattoos
- Location: BAGHDAD, IRAQ
- City: BAGHDAD, IRAQ
- Country: Iraq
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment
- Reuters ID: LVA001BBM2S0L
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Young Iraqi tattoo artist, Maram, sits in a tent at the heart of Tahrir Square inking memories of the country's months-long protests on the arms and backs of fellow protesters.
The 16-year-old girl is engraving the protest-themed tattoos for free, a move she says aims to "break barriers" imposed by the Iraqi society.
Setting in a tent at Tahrir Square, Maram, who declined to give her family name, draws her art on the exposed backs of her fellow male protesters, who lined up to have her ink their bodies forever.
"I don't think that a girl can ink a boy, especially in such a place and revolution. So I wanted to break this barrier," she said.
For 23-year-old protester Ali Mushtaq, whose back is inked with two tattoos done by Maram, the young girl's presence is a true expression of the ideals of this protest movement. It is a message of inclusion, he believes.
Maram says protesters mostly ask for protest-themed tattoos. And for her, offering her services for free is the least she can contribute with.
More than 450 people, mostly unarmed demonstrators but also some members of the security forces, have been killed since a wave of popular unrest began on October 1.
Protesters, most of them young, are demanding an overhaul of a political system they see as profoundly corrupt and keeping many Iraqis in poverty.
(Production: Maher Nazeh, Mohammed Katfan) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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