Russian Criminal Tattoo Exhibition

London, from 29 October to 29 November 2010

Russian prisoners had a secret language – tattoos.
In London the art and meanings of their tattooed language.Over the last six years the English publisher Fuel Design & Publishing have produced and published the beautiful Russian Criminal Tattoo Encyclopaedia Volumes I, II and III.

Now for the first time the original artworks from these popular books are exhibited

The “Russian Criminal Tattoo Exhibition” shows 120 original ink drawings by Danzig Baldaev and 16 photographic prints by Sergei Vasiliev.
This unique archive documents Russian criminals’ tattoos and their coded meanings.

Included in the collection are more than 3.000 tattoo drawings made by Danzig Baldaev during his time as a prison guard between 1948 and 1986.