A Love Letter to the London Tattoo Convention

The tattoo world received the incredibly sad news recently that the iconic London Tattoo Convention had come to an end, so we wanted to pen a little love letter to the show that brought joy to so many tattoo artists and enthusiasts from across the globe.

The London Tattoo Convention was always one of the biggest events on the calendar and one that we at Killer Ink looked forward to every single year.

Founded back in September 2004 by Miki Vialetto and Marcus Berriman, the first London Tattoo Convention was held at the Old Truman Brewery in East London.

The show would remain there for 4 years before the team realised they needed a bigger space to account for the convention’s growing popularity as a lifestyle and cultural festival, not only a tattoo event. This led co-founder Marcus to discover Tobacco Dock, which was the home of the London Tattoo Convention ever since.

The UK’s biggest and best-loved celebration of tattoo art, culture and lifestyle continued to grow year on year, inviting world-class artists and performers from across the globe to showcase their talents to the public.

It was this blend of top-notch tattooing, exhilarating performances, a smorgasbord of cultures and people from every walk of life that made the London Tattoo Convention such a special event for all.

In July last year, we received the devastating news that Marcus Berriman had passed away. Marcus was a huge part of the tattooing industry, but most importantly a great all-round guy and one we were honoured to call our friend.

It was with the passing of Marcus and the uncertain times that we are currently facing that Miki has chosen to wrap up the London Tattoo Convention. While we, along with countless tattoo artists and enthusiasts, were incredibly saddened by the announcement, we wanted to take this moment to look back at some of the amazing times that were had by all at past conventions.

From everyone at the Killer Ink team, we want to say a huge thank you to Miki, Marcus and everyone else involved behind the scenes at the London Tattoo Convention. We will never forget the amazing memories made at the show and the opportunity to see so many of you there each year.

We’ve included the videos that we shot at the last 4 years of the London Tattoo Convention below, so please join us in looking back over some of the best moments of the year!