Hyatt Regency
20-22nd May 2005

This was only the second ever National Tattoo Convention to be hosted by South Australia since the inception of the Professional Tattooing Association of Australia in the 1980's.

With all hands on deck the PTAA, South Australian Branch pulled together and put on a proud and professional convention showcasing some of Australia's finest tattoo artists; why we even smashed national records of contestant entries in one category!

The Hyatt looked after all delegates and organisers with the utmost flair and personal service, a bit of a gamble for them really as they had not catered to a convention of this type before, or had they privilege of meeting such a large group of, let we say "culturally alternative" people in one spot before... Needless to say the whole weekend went off without an entire glitch and we all enjoyed and appreciated the Hyatt's grand lounges and convention rooms, not to mention the food!

"Melancholy" by
Ashadi Teguh

The thing that set our convention apart from others was that we included a canvas art exhibition: the Grivillea Room was dedicated to an art exhibition by tattoo artists and individuals alike and the winner (judged by Prof. Rod Taylor of the Adelaide Central School of Art) was awarded a cash prize of $1000 (see right). There was also an "Art Evolution", where tattoo artists were invited to spend a set time each on a triple canvas - the result was a massive fusion of art, which will be auctioned off at the 2006 convention, Victoria (email tat2tapestry@optusnet.com.au for more info).

In summary, the event was a success: The tattoo competition was huge, the art was strong, the support was fantastic, the dinner and celebrations were awesome and the hangovers were phenomenal!

We'd like to thank all from the PTAA who attended, especially those from interstate: Pete, Nola and Crew, Little Mick, Ron, Patsy, Ray and Cheryl, Max, Plug, Simon Wilson and Arm (who rode from Coffs Harbour!)... and we'd like to thank all our sponsors, it was fantastic to see such support from within the tattoo industry. Finally Mike and Morag would like to thank those here in South Australia who really busted their balls to make the convention a success, fellow tattoo artists Nigel and Mik and their Crews, Byron and Andy plus our good friends who worked tirelessly on the front desk, behind the scenes and security; Steve, Kelly, Chan and Mel, Matt, Beck and Rob, Marty, Johnny and Lisa - Cheers guys!!!

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