Writing on the body: desecration or worship?

The art of marking the body, by piercing the flesh and pushing ink into the wound, the tattoo, has had an uneasy relationship with religion. It's sometimes seen as a desecration of the body, but equally, the tattoo is venerated as a rite of passage and as a form of worship. Then there are tattoos in the secular context. They are so common in Australia now, it’s actually hard to find a body under the age of 40 NOT permanently marked by ink. It’s a fascinating form of human expression, both in existence for millennia, and changing before our eyes. GUESTS: LARS KRUTAK is an anthropologist and documentary maker who specialises in tattoos and their cultural significance. . His new book Indigenous Tattoo Traditions (Princeton University Press) explores the role of tattooing cross-culturally. JULIA MAGEAU GRAY is a researcher, documentary maker, and tattoo artist. Julia is credited with revitalising women's tattoo traditions across Melanesia