This series of artist talks begins with art, connecting history, identity, and contemporary conditions, while revisiting experiences that have been overlooked or silenced. Through dialogues between artists and speakers from different fields, it reconsiders how “WE” are formed and excluded, and how “WE” continue to emerge in a rapidly changing world, opening new possibilities for understanding and imagination.
▌Session 4
Sailor Tattoos at U.S. Military Bases in Asia: From Hong Kong’s Fenwick Pier to Yokosuka, Japan
Jimmy Shy ✕ CHANG Yu, Yenbo KUO, GUO Jau-Lan (Moderator)
Time: 06/07 Sun. 14:00-16:00
Venue: R102 Coworking Space
It is said that the earliest tattoos in nineteenth-century France appeared among naval sailors. For light infantry battalions stationed in North Africa, it was even noted that “In each one of the army’s repressive institutions more or less gifted tatoos operated.”
But why did 20th-century U.S. Navy sailors get tattoos? And what kinds of subcultural formations were shaped by the post–World War II deployment of U.S. forces across Asia?
This panel centers on “Sailor Tattoos at U.S. Military Bases in Asia,” approaching the topic from both geopolitical and body-cultural perspectives. Yenbo KUO will guide us through a review of U.S. overseas military deployments in Asia, portraying the cultural landscape of these bases under military conditions through the lens of ubiquitous everyday consumer culture and subcultural spaces—such as imported goods, bars, and marginal cultural scenes.
Tattoo artists Jimmy Shy and CHANG Yu will share how they initiated the street-based research project “Hong Kong Traditional Tattoo,” driven by an instinct to trace the Hong Kong tattoo artist Pinky YUN. The transnational trajectory they map through Pinky YUN’s movements ultimately reflects a turbulent Pacific world.
▶ Free Admission via Online Registration
Speaker Bio
Session 4
▌ Jimmy Shy
Jimmy Shy (b. 1986) was born and raised in Taipei, Taiwan, and has been practicing tattooing for over 15 years. In recent years, he has been at the forefront of a new generation of tattooers focusing on Asian sailor tattoos, Hong Kong traditional styles, and especially the legacy of Pinky YUN. His work has been featured in international media and art publications. Jimmy has long been touring across the US as a guest tattooist at landmark tattoo shops and a participant of major international conventions of tattoo culture.
▌ CHANG Yu
CHANG Yu (b. 1989) was born in Switzerland and raised in Taipei, Taiwan. CHANG has been working with film photography since 2009. He published Sleepwalking in Taipei (2020) and Side Effects of the City (2021), followed by a solo exhibition at 1839 Contemporary Gallery in 2022. His work captures marginalized urban lives with honesty and empathy, challenging stereotypes while revealing resilience and humanity.
▌ Yenbo KUO
PhD student at the Institute of Social Research and Cultural Studies, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University. His research expertise includes post-war Taiwanese history, Cold War history, and overseas military bases. He focuses on the series of effects triggered by the arrival of the U.S. military in post-war Taiwan, as well as the associated socio-cultural impacts and geopolitical issues. His master's thesis, Chasing Bargirls: American Soldiers, Sex Tourism and the Cold War on Taiwan, focuses on the dynamics between the U.S. military and bar girls, and was awarded thesis prizes by the Cultural Studies Association and the Taiwan Social Studies Association. His recent research focuses on the social impacts of the legal status of the U.S. military, with works published in Frontiers and Mobility: Revisiting Inter-Asian Connections in the Cold War (2024), as well as journals such as the Taiwan: A Radical Quarterly in Social Studies, Journal of Geographical Science, and Bulletin of Academia Historica.
▌GUO Jau-Lan
Curator, 2026 C-LAB Annual Exhibition, WE Are Becoming
Associate Professor of Taipei National University of the Arts. GUO teaches contemporary art, art history and curatorial practice. Her research interests revolve around the issue of artistic migration, circulation, art historiography and contemporary art within the culture of display. Her recent curatorial projects have been focused on practicing perceptible art historiography, that is, art history for the public.
▶ Free Admission via Online Registration.
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