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Julian Manduca
Malta’s first tattoo artist believes competitors have spread a malicious and false rumour to try and gain a business advantage against him. Bobby Tattoo as he is known to all his customers, left the island for three days in July this year to attend a conference and closed shop.
On his return he found out that people were saying his shops, in Bugibba and Paola, had been closed down because both Bobby and his son Isaac had contracted Aids.
“I received phone calls from Boffa hospital asking if I had Aids, but people were also saying that I had Parkinson’s and every other disease under the sun. I heard that many of my clients went to have blood tests,” Bobby told MaltaToday.
“I have lost a large number of clients because of the rumour as people are afraid, but not only do I not have aids and have the certificate to prove it, but customers will always be safe when we tattoo them. We always use sterilised needles and a new pair of gloves.”
Bobby Tattoo told MaltaToday he was the first to open a legal tattoo shop in Malta and actually had to fight for it. “When I was 10 I did my first tattoo on myself. I went to the UK and worked as a tattoo artist in Fulham, but returned to Malta where tattooing was still illegal. I went to prison for one month and paid an Lm250 fine before I was given the first permit as a tattoo artist.”
Now there are about seven other tattoo artists working in Malta legally and countless others who manage to do so without the necessary permits.
Bobby does all sorts of tattoos at prices ranging from Lm5 to hundreds of liri for body suits and specialises in portraits, although now ‘tribal’ tattoos are the most popular.
In recent years there has been a surge of interest to have tatoos on more intimate parts of the body including the breasts and genitals. “Whoever spread this dastardly rumour has been telling people that an article appeared in a newspaper saying that I had Aids. I will pay Lm1,000 to anyone that can bring me that article.”
julian@newsworksltd.com
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