ABSTRACT
In the 21st century, tattooing in Bolivia has skyrocketed, as a result of global tattoo culture and media flows. Tattoo artists and their clients are increasingly allured by Indigenous symbolism in their designs, despite any connection to ancient tattooing practices. Taking tattooing itself as a media that communicates messages and is implicated in meaning-making practices of identification, this chapter traces the ways tattooing reflects larger social changes. Within a context of the Indigenous nationalism promoted by former President Evo Morales, indigeneity has been transformed into a discourse and mode of aesthetics available to all Bolivians. While most artists and clients do not have close connections with Indigenous communities, their use of these tattoos reflects an orientation to local and national culture. Through this visible writing upon the body, they reinforce ideologies associated with Indigenous nationalism in ways that may result in further marginalization of Indigenous communities. The flattening of once vibrant cultural symbols in tattoo imagery therefore reflects and strengthens hegemonic discourses related to identity and nationalism.
