Tattoo training: it's time to go to school

From September, people will be tattooing a lot more in Luxembourg, and at school. Well, maybe not quite, tattooing is still done in the studio, but the DAP (Diploma of Vocational Aptitude) tattoo artist will be an integral part of the Luxembourg school system from the coming rentrée and will enable aspiring tattoo artists and interested parties to train in the field, culminating in a state-recognised diploma. The part-time training lasts three years and takes place both at the Lycée technique du Centre and in the respective training companies.

The desire to create an official course for the former underground job did not come from politicians or ministries, as one might expect, but from working tattoo artists who want to provide their profession with a certain standard. One of them is Yann Neumann, tattoo artist and operator of the Lions Grave Custom Tattoo studio in Berbourg. The artist has been engraving skin images since his high school days. He has been self-employed since 2013 and knows the industry like the back of his hand – including the part that comes before the actual job. "I experienced first-hand how unpleasantly difficult it is to get into the profession because almost nobody wants to train you, " says the tattoo artist.