Tattooed Catholic woman Jelka Markić, born Petričević1942 in village Lukovo Brdo in Kakanj Municipality, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Jelka Markić, born Petričević , 1942 in village Lukovo Brdo in Kakanj Municipality, Bosnia and Herzegovina photo by Alex Jazdzewski

I met Jelka in Livno in March, 2011..

here are also pictures from Jelka. She is a refugee and lives in Livno. I visited her to hear hear story. She was born in 1942. and was tattooed as a child. She married in 1960, together with other 60 pairs' 120 people on the same day. It was a catholic custom because of the Turks. The turkish chief had the right to sleep with catholic girls on they first wedding night. so the catholics married on the same day so that he could not sleep with all of them.

Did you know that there are people in Europe who are still traditionally tattooed in the old ways, carrying on their skin a tradition of tattooing that is more than 1000 years old and dates from the ancient Illyrian tribes that lived in the Balkans? You can still find old Croatian Catholic people in Bosnia and Herzegovina who were tattooed between the age of 3 and 16 for protection. There is not much written or published about it, and the photos about their tattoos are rare. Every story is important to me, because every village had their own customs and symbols for tattooing. My aim is also to find the last person who was traditionally tattooed in the Balkans, and I know that it was also done after 1960ies. I want to research more about the links of tattoo traditions in the Balkans so :

Therefore I need your HELP and support in this project of preserving this culture of tattooing :

- If you ever travel around Bosnia and Herzegovina and come across tattooed Croatian people in the mountains or towns, please send your photo or story to croatiantattoo@gmail.com

- This custom was also known in Albania since it dates from the Illyrian tribes , so if somebody saw old traditonally tattooed people or knows something about this tradition in Albania, please let me know!

- If you travel around Balkans and meet the Cincar people who had a cross tattoo on their foreheads please inform
- If you want to write and research about this topic I will be more than welcome to assist and send you all the stories I’ve collected in English so that people do not forget this tradition!

I also welcome all people and journalists- If you have any projects, questions, proposals and advices regarding this topic, don’t hesitate to contact:

Traditional Croatian Tattoo in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Email address :
croatiantattoo@gmail.com

To read more you can visit www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Traditional-Tattoo-in-Europe/21...

Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Croat Tattoo Traditions
Catholic Tattoo
Indigenous Tattoo
Slavic Tattoo
Ilyrian Tattoo
Balkan Tattoo
European Tattoo

Hrvati u Bosni i Hercegovini
Hrvatske Tetovaže
Katoličke Tetovaže
Tradicionalne tetovaže
Tetoviranje u Europi
Tetoviranje na Balkanu

Taken on: March 17, 2011

Tags:

Jelka

Croats

Herzegovina

Croat

Tattoo

Traditions

Hrvati

Bosni

Hercegovini

European

Catholic

Balkan « less

Groups appears in: • Catholic • CHRISTIAN PHOTOGRAPHY more » • Folklore • bosnia and herzegovina • Lands of The Slavs • Catholic Photographers « less

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Camera:	Sony HXR-MC50E
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Focal Length:	5.1mm
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
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