Exhibition: Tattoos: Modern Expression and Ancient Art

For millennia, humans have tattooed their bodies to express their individuality, chronicling loves, losses, beliefs, victories, affiliations, hopes and dreams. The oldest human mummy discovered — 5,300 years old — had 60 tattoos, and his contemporaries, from the South Pacific to the indigenous people of New Jersey, were also inked. Queen Victoria's husband, son, and many of her grandsons and nephews, who were rulers of Europe, were tattooed. There is a long tradition of sailors using tattoos to chronicle adventures at sea. Tattooing has become increasingly popular in the last 20 years, and today, eight out of 10 Americans believe society is more accepting of people with tattoos.