Belgium/ "96092 Solidaires", the original operation of the tattoo artists for the benefit of the independent

The contact professions grouped in beauty salons, hairdressing salons and tattoo parlours can officially resume their activities in about ten days, on April 26.

And while waiting for this date, the world of tattoo artists is mobilizing to help all the independents hit by the crisis. It is a fundraising action by a system of reservation of drawings to be tattooed as soon as the reopening.

At the initiative of this project entitled "96092 Solidaires" whose figures correspond to the code allotted to the sector of the tattoo and piercing by the social security, one finds some professionals brabançons of the sector as "L'Officine de Monsieur T" in Wavre.

Origin and objective of the project

Everything started from a feeling of anger and incomprehension. A feeling shared by three friends active in the sector. As Florence, one of the initiators of the project, who holds a piercing and tattooing salon in Louvain-la-Neuve, explains: "We are a smallgroup which formed and we thought about what we could do to express ourselves, while remaining in the legality".

In this group, one idea quickly became unanimous: to create an event where exclusive tattoos would be sold... In the business, this is called a "flashday".

"Theparticularity of this flashday is that it is digital, explains Jeremiah, alias Wake, tattoo artist in Wavre. We are going to use social networks to propose our designs that will be tattooed when we can reopen".

The approach wants to be solidary above all, the money collected with the sale of tattoos but also of piercings and illustrations will go directly to the ASBL Alysson Jadin. Named after this young barber from Liège who put an end to her life in a difficult financial context during the first closure of non-essential shops.

This ASBL comes to the aid of a maximum number of self-employed people in difficulty in the face of the crisis we are experiencing.

Changing the way people look at the profession

One of the other objectives of the project is to change the way the general public, but especially the authorities, look at the profession.

Jeremiah (aka Wake): "Tattooing is not just about partying, listening to rock'n'roll and getting a tattoo on a table corner with a cigarette in the corner of your mouth. There are hygiene standards and it's a real job in its own right.

Thanks to word-of-mouth, the project has grown to a point where the initiators were surprised. More than 80 Belgian artists have joined in and thousands of customers have already shown interest in the operation.

The booking is taking place this Sunday, April 18 on the FB page "96092 Solidaires".

Source: www.rtbf.be