Body and Freedom

Edited by Filippo Borella

October 2, 3, and 4, 2026
As part of the Como Tattoo Convention® 2026

The human body is not merely a shell, but the prime battleground where the struggle for freedom is waged. This is the beating heart of “TrAtto — Body and Freedom,” the exhibition curated by Filippo Borella for the second edition of the Como Tattoo Convention, to be held at Lario Fiere in Erba (Co) and sponsored by Olcelli Farmaceutici.

The Exhibition

The exhibition breaks down the boundaries between disciplines. More than sixty artists, with works ranging from the 1960s to previously unseen installations, explore the theme through a full range of expressive means.

Visual Arts

Painting, sculpture, graphic art, collage, and photography.

Action

Performance, video art, and poetry.

Report

Workshops and interactive sessions.

The Body as a Tool

Here, the skin is the starting point, but not the destination. The body becomes an instrument made up of signs, colors, and silences, capable of connecting the aesthetic surface to the immensity of personal identity.

The exhibition experience is not limited to sight; it becomes a multisensory experience that engages the senses of hearing, smell, and taste, placing the body in constant dialogue with the Whole.

Gian Maurizio Fercioni

Born in Milan in 1946, Gian Maurizio Fercioni attended the Brera Art High School and completed the Set Design program at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts, graduating in 1970. He made his debut at the Piccola Scala in 1969, designing the sets for the ballet Il circo by Elide Bonagiunta, set to music by Sergei Prokofiev. He later created sets and costumes for Mozart’s Il re pastore (1980) and designed the stage setup for Variété, a concert-show by Mauricio Kagel (1981), both also for the Piccola Scala.

In 1970, he began collaborating with the Piccolo Teatro di Milano as an assistant set designer. In 1973, he designed and made the masks for Toller by Tankred Dorst, directed by Patrice Chéreau. This led to further work with Chéreau’s team, eventually becoming the assistant to Richard Peduzzi, whom he later followed to Spoleto, Lyon, and Paris.

He established the costume department and designed costumes for all the productions of the Laboratorio Teatrale di Prato, directed by Luca Ronconi.

In 1972, alongside Andrée Ruth Shammah, Franco Parenti, and Giovanni Testori, he co-founded the Salone Pierlombardo in Milan, where he went on to design sets and costumes for over 40 productions directed by Shammah and Parenti, based on works by Shakespeare, Molière, Pirandello, De Filippo, Pinter, and Testori.

Throughout his career, he has designed sets and costumes for both opera and drama in major European theatres, working with renowned directors such as Roger Planchon, Werner Düggelin, Antoine Bourseiller, Peter Lotschak, Jean-Claude Auvray, Mario Morini, Bepi Morassi, Tobias Richter, Louis Erlo, Roberto Guicciardini, Luca De Filippo, Gabriele Salvatores, and Robert Sandoz. He has also worked in film, television, and advertising. In 2004, he oversaw the renovation of Milan’s Teatro Franco Parenti in collaboration with the De Lucchi architectural studio.

In parallel, in 1970 he opened the “Queequeg Tattoo Studio & Museum” in Milan — one of the first tattoo studios in Italy — which also houses his historical and anthropological collection. The collection includes tools for both modern and traditional tattooing, original flash art from around the world, vintage prints, and photographs of tattooed individuals from various cultures. By 2000, the studio had become a major reference point in Europe and worldwide for those interested in tattooing and was awarded official recognition by the City of Milan.

He has worked in Lyon and Oxford and has participated in the world’s major tattoo conventions for the past thirty years. Fercioni practices tattooing with both electric machines and traditional hand techniques, including the Japanese tebori method, which he learned in Japan from the legendary master Horiyoshi III.

He is the founder of T.I.P.A. (Italian Professional Tattoo Artists Association), an honorary member of T.A.I. (Italian Associated Tattoo Artists), and, since 1978, a member of the National Tattoo Association, which includes the world’s most important tattoo artists. He published a book on his mentor titled Horiyoshi III. The Art of Japanese Tattooing.

Luisa Gnecchi Ruscone

Luisa Gnecchi Ruscone is an anthropologist and tattoo historian, known as:

Author: She has published several books exploring themes related to art and culture, including Tattoo: History and Origins in Italy, an in-depth analysis of the tattoo’s history in the country.
Art Curator: Gnecchi Ruscone has a deep passion for art and has curated numerous successful exhibitions. Among the most recent is Tattoo. Stories from the Mediterranean, held at the Mudec Museum in Milan in 2024.
What is a tattoo? Why do people get tattooed today? What stories lie behind a mark that becomes forever “ours”?

This original and unprecedented exhibition project explores tattooing from a historical, anthropological, and cultural perspective, focusing on the Mediterranean basin — the region where the earliest undeniable evidence of tattooing has been found.

Starting with Ötzi, the oldest naturally mummified human body ever discovered bearing tattoos, the exhibition traces the history of tattooing from prehistoric evidence to the present day. It presents a compelling, kaleidoscopic collage of images, colors, and lived experiences as told by contemporary tattoo artists.

Set within a multimedia and interactive scenographic design by the Dotdotdot design studio, the exhibition features a rich array of documentation: objects, historical artifacts, tools, audio materials, video installations, infographics, prints, engravings, texts, and reproductions from prominent institutions and museum collections.

The exhibition is produced by 24 ORE Cultura – Gruppo 24 ORE and promoted by the City of Milan’s Department of Culture. It is curated by Luisa Gnecchi Ruscone and Guido Guerzoni, with the collaboration of Jurate Francesca Piacenti.

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TRATTOO

Body and Freedom

Edited by Filippo Borella

October 2, 3, and 4, 2026
As part of the Como Tattoo Convention® 2026

The Exhibition

The Body as a Tool

The Evolution of Body Art

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS:

ALESSANDRO COVALLERO

BORELLA FILIPPO

Bruna Ferrazzini

DAVIDE ANDREOLI

DOKTOR LAKRA

GABRIELE DONNINI

GENZIANA COCCO

HENK & LOUISE SCHIFFMACHER

MANNY LYN

MARCO PETACCHI

Paola Grandi

PELLEOSSA

RICCARDO CELLI

SIMONE COVALLERO

SPERANZA GIOVANNI

VANJA INK

Norme di Buona Pratica

Good Practice Guidelines

CONTATTI / CONTACTS

ISCRIZIONE / REGISTRATION

COMO TATTTOO CONVENTION

Ticket

Informazioni

Follow us

Your cart (items: 0)

TRATTOO

Body and Freedom

Edited by Filippo Borella

October 2, 3, and 4, 2026 As part of the Como Tattoo Convention® 2026

The Exhibition

The Body as a Tool

The Evolution of Body Art

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS:

Good Practice Guidelines

CONTATTI / CONTACTS

ISCRIZIONE / REGISTRATION

COMO TATTTOO CONVENTION

Ticket

Informazioni

Follow us

October 2, 3, and 4, 2026
As part of the Como Tattoo Convention® 2026