The origin story of HandXăm Tattoo
To understand the story of HandXăm, we need to go back to the journey of the founder, Mr. Hung Xu. Having a master's degree in hotel and tourism, Mr. Hung has been involved in this industry for nearly a decade, taking on the position of product manager at a large corporation. However, the dream of living with art, especially tattoo art, urged him to give up everything to build HandXăm Tattoo.
Starting from his personal passion, Mr. Hung also has a greater aspiration: to create an environment that supports young artists to overcome social prejudices, to live and work with passion in a free, healthy and sustainable way. The name HandXam was also chosen with many layers of meaning. “Hand” reminds of the dexterity of the artist’s hands, while “Xam” represents the art of tattooing. When combined, “HandXam” is homophonous with “handsome”, as an affirmation that tattoos from here will help customers become more attractive.
HandXăm Tattoo Space
But what makes HandXam special is its artistic orientation focusing on traditional Vietnamese culture. This idea originated from artist Hung Xu's travels while working in the tourism industry. In countries like Thailand, Japan or Indonesia, he realized that tattoo art is not only a personal expression but also a national pride. Traditional tattoo designs of Polynesian ethnic groups like Maori or Samoan all contain profound cultural stories, affirming their unique position on the world art map.
Artist Hung Xu with the dream of honoring, preserving and developing traditional Vietnamese motifs
From there, Mr. Hung began to research and realized that ancient Vietnamese people also had a tattoo tradition, but this has faded over time. With the desire to revive, he turned HandXam into a place connecting the past and the present, bringing back Vietnamese cultural values through each tattoo.
The art of storytelling through traditional motifs
HandXam Tattoo is currently located at 3 Chau Long, Truc Bach, Ba Dinh, Hanoi. One of the characteristics that makes HandXam famous is the tattoos with motifs from Dong Son bronze drums - a typical cultural symbol of the ancient Vietnamese. These motifs not only have artistic value but also contain deep meaning. The Lac bird, one of the most popular motifs, represents the desire for freedom and the spirit of returning to the origin. The dancing figure recreates the customs of the rice civilization, and the sun in the center of the drum symbolizes the ancient Vietnamese belief in worshiping the sun god.
Each tattoo is carefully researched to suit the owner.
However, to make these patterns truly suitable for modern tattooing, the artists at HandXam constantly research and create. A tattoo not only needs to be beautiful but also needs to be in harmony with the body and style of the owner. The artists always put themselves in the position of the customer, understanding from emotions, personality to body structure to design tattoos that both have personal meaning and maintain the traditional spirit. The bronze drum pattern when tattooed on a female body, for example, needs to be refined to enhance the softness and avoid a feeling of stiffness.
Not only stopping at bronze drums, HandXam also constantly expands creative inspiration from other cultural heritages of Vietnam. From the patterns of the Muong and Thai people to Dong Ho folk paintings, Hang Trong paintings, or elements of the Hue royal court, each tattoo is a small story about history and culture. For HandXam, tattooing is not only a personalized art but also a way for each person to carry with them a part of the nation's heritage.
Some tattoos at the shop - Photo provided by the character
Journey to spread Vietnamese culture
HandXam's development path has not been without difficulties. At one point, Mr. Hung thought about closing the shop due to financial pressure. But thanks to the encouragement of friends, especially the advice: "You can go work for someone else and earn more money, but that way you will not be able to fulfill your dream anymore!", HandXam has overcome the challenges and increasingly affirmed its position in the tattoo art community.
Ms. Trang, manager of HandXăm Tattoo
The big goal of HandXam is to put Vietnamese tattoos on the world art map. Ms. Trang, the tattoo shop manager, shared: “Vietnamese people are very skillful, many Vietnamese tattoo artists are internationally famous, but there is still no style that truly bears the mark of Vietnamese culture. She hopes that, through the creative efforts at HandXam, Vietnamese tattoo art will develop more and more, especially the motifs of the Dong Son Drum, so that the Lac Birds, the Sun, and Lac Viet warriors will become the pride of the Vietnamese people and be known all over the world.”
Today, HandXăm Tattoo is not only a tattoo shop but also a meeting place for those who love art and want to explore Vietnamese culture through each ink stroke. Each tattoo here is a fusion of beauty and traditional values, a personal story of each customer, and above all, a message of national pride conveyed in art. With nearly a decade of development, HandXăm Tattoo has proven that tattoo art is not only for beauty but also a way to tell meaningful stories about Vietnamese people and culture.
Some other pictures at the shop:
Lena, a customer at the shop, is currently in Vietnam to study and research, and shares that she also loves the culture here.
The tattoo shop has two floors, divided into several separate areas.
The tattoo shop is currently located at 3 Chau Long, Truc Bach, Ba Dinh, Hanoi
