Sanya Olman
O L M A N project of cultural rescue of the techniques of ancestral tattoo of the old Mexico
https://www.facebook.com/OLMANsanyaYsamuelBiography Sanya
I was born in Slovenia, ex Yugoslavia. There I did fire dance and improve theater performances. Over a decade ago destiny took me to Mexico where I immediately felt a great connection with the prehispanic ancestors. The more I learned about the culture and their beautiful artistic expression, in all the aspects, the more I liked it and went deeper into it.
To revive some of the history here are a part of command of the last venerable Aztec ruler tlahtohuani CUAUHTÉMOC on August 22, 1521 in TENOCHTITLAN (Mexico City):
'' Our sacred energy already had to hide. Our great father sun nobly hid his face, and left us in total darkness. We are certain that he will return another time to enlighten us.. But while he is there in the mansion of the silence ,we will very soon need to reunite.. Let’s congregate and in the center of our heart hide everything that our heart has honoured and loved, and we know is our treasure like a great emerald. Let make our sacred places disappear: calmecac, our ball games, our tepochcallis, our song houses… so that we only have our paths and our homes to preserve us, until our sun deigns rise again. ,…. ''
The ancestors of Mexico called themselves children of the sun, because of their Cosmo vision. They had great knowledge and like the majority of ancient societies artistic expression was primordial for them that was how they showed the spiritual knowledge. The Calmecacs universities for noble class, where were formed architects, sculptors, astronomers, painters, healers, tattoo artists...
In Mexico after 500 years of conquest ritual of ancient tattoo disappeared.
Half a year after arriving in Mexico, I met my husband Samuel, body modifier (at the moment tattoo artist) with his studio OLMAN, named to remember his Olmecs ancestors. He introduced me to the world of tattoo. A year after meeting him, I began to tattoo with machine. At this time I found a great interest for the ritual of traditional practice of ancient tattoo.
Than a year after a sun dancer gave me a bamboo stick.
I made my first steel instruments like I imagined them, with few references of pictures that I saw in some books and magazines. I didn't have a teacher to help or to advise me,
so I used intuition to guide me to create my tools.
An archaeologist offered himself for my first ritual of ancient tattoo.
I began with the copal ceremony (sacred resin of the Copal tree). It is used in all traditional rituals that have been preserved and represents cleansing, permission, and a connection with the sacred energy.
I started to tattoo very spontaneously without thinking of how I would hold my instrument or which technique I would use. I just let myself flow and I felt as if I had been doing it forever. I was so excited after my first tattoo that I couldn’t sleep.
I was aware of the ancient technique of traditional tattoo that I had just begun. I channeled that this rescue would be focused on the culture to honour the ancestors that have given me so much inspiration, with remembering and reliving their symbolism and significance on the sacred canvas with tattoo ceremony. And with this connect and diffuse our roots.
We live in a time of fusion where past fuses with present. Respecting the techniques and forms of ancient practices, I tattoo both ways, ancestral and modern.
Studio OLMAN cultural rescue of ancient tattoo is in the jungle inside of camping Panchan, near the Mayan archaeological site in Palenque - Chiapas - Mexico.