Meet the tattoo artist keeping the traditional Kurdish artform of Xal alive

Elu Aiyana is reviving an Kurdish form of tattooing, which includes shapes and symbols enshrined in spiritual meaning.

Tattoos by Elu Aiyana inspired the ancient artform of Xall, or Deq Source: Elu Aiyana

Elu Aiyana is a tattoo artist with Kurdish roots from Dersim in eastern Turkey.

Having lived in a number of countries in Asia, she’s drawn inspiration and techniques from a number of styles.

With a keen focus on her ancestry, she tells SBS Kurdish it was inevitable that she came back to a tattoo style unique to the Kurdish people.

“I started to look up what my ancestors used to do and the tattoos that we used to have. It was something that naturally unfolded for me,” she says. “For me to be able to practice this artform is a way of connecting to my roots.”

Elu Aiyana says she's been interested in tattooing since she was a child. Source: Elu Aiyana

Now based in Portugal, she draws her inspiration from Xal (pronounced as Khal), also known by some communities as Deq, which is the traditional but fading style of tattooing by hand.

The style, seen today on older women from Kurdish communities in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, north-eastern Syria, south-eastern Anatolia and western Iran, often includes geometric shapes pertaining to cosmology, agriculture and wildlife.

The shapes include stars, the sun and moon, crops, tools, birds and deer to name a few.

They largely reflect the natural things that Kurds have been close to over generations.

A Kurdish back tattoo piece by Elu Aiyana. Source: Elu Aiyana

Source: Elu Aiyana

The symbols, which have different meanings including love, pain and pleasure, are mostly seen on hands, chins, foreheads, necks, ankles and backs.

“My inspiration is mostly the traditional back tattoos that relate to the universe, to nature and to humans themselves."

Kurdish shoulder tattoo. Source: Elu Aiyana

Source: Elu Aiyana

However, the once common artform has become less popular over the generations.

Aiyana believes the tradition isn’t completely dead but notes that today’s generation is able to challenge previous barriers.

"It’s easier for the diaspora to pick up these practices again. And it’s easier to do so [in other places].”

But given its esoteric nature, it was never an easy concept to dissect.

Source: Elu Aiyana

Source: Elu Aiyana

A select number of references exist on the artform and only one is accesible, Aiyana says.

Her research has included translating material in four different languages, a challenge she says has been rewarding.

Though there’s no visual glossary when it comes to Kurdish tattoos, given its nomadic history.

But this hasn't deterred Aiyana, conversely, she still finds new meanings, saying “it’s a lifelong journey for me to discover and remember what these symbols mean”.

"To be able to practice this artform is a way of connecting to my roots and finding myself home within my roots. It's a pathway to connect where I come from."

Source: Elu Aiyana

Aiyana says she's always wanted to be a tattoo artist, though admits it was a difficult industry to break into.

“Tattooing has been on my mind since I was little, something that has called on me for a long time."

When she completed school, she jumped into the deep end, practising wherever possible.

She had even travelled to Asia for a couple of years, learning about traditional tattooing techniques by hand, something that resonated.

This is when she switched to tattooing by hand.

“I started to look up what my ancestors used to do and how, what tattoos we used to have, and then I came across a traditional Kurdish technique and I discovered that it was something that naturally unfolded for me.”

Source: Elu Aiyana

That’s not to say it’s completely traditional.

Aiyana uses a ‘stick and poke’ method when tattooing by hand.

Similar to mainstream tattoo processes without a tattoo gun, this method involves repeatedly poking a needle attached to a stick with tattoo purpose ink, a far cry from ancient Kurdish tattooing methods and materials.

Traditionally it is done by hand using breast milk from a mother that gave birth to a girl because they're supposed to bring luck, they mix it with charcoal.

Whether it’s applied in a modern or traditional manner, the symbolism is vast.

As for her favourite Kurdish symbol and whilst admitting the options are plentiful, there’s one clear standout.

“I think my favourite symbol that I relate to is the symbol of fertility, just because of fertility in life… the energy of creation, of possibility, of openness of change; I think that is something I connect to the most.”