The Noble Chafer, one of the 100 tattoo illustrations
opening night of extInked - the show was packed out with over 300 visitors. Photo by Tom Bing.
Jai Redman with the 100 illustrations
Joe Richardson (right) with Jai Redman and 2 of the 100 species
The temporary tattoo studio in the gallery. Photo: Tom Bing
The Mole Cricket tattoo, freshly completed.
ExtInked
In the year in which the world celebrated Charles Darwin’s bicentennial birthday, Ultimate Holding Company embarked on a once in a lifetime social experiment.
With the expert assistance of several prominent conservation charities and the artistry of tattooists from Ink Vs Steel, Ultimate Holding Company created ExtInked.
An exhibition of drawings, individually illustrating one hundred of the most endangered species in the British Isles opened on 12th November and reached its conclusion with the live tattooing of the drawings on one hundred willing volunteers, closing on 29th November 2009.
The result of this unique exhibition is an army of ambassadors for threatened and rare birds, fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, plants and fungi.
Ambassadors were chosen from hundreds of written applications submitted to the artists. The applications were deeply personal and heartfelt messages from individuals eager to involve themselves in a lifelong campaign for the conservation of the country's biodiversity.
A full list of species is downloadable below, including a version showing which species were allocated to which ambassador.
Partner Organisations
ExtInked was presented in proud association with the Marine Conservation Society, Buglife (The Invertebrate Conservation Trust) and The People's Trust for Endangered Species.
Support
ExtInked was supported by a grant for the arts from the Arts Council England, generous public subscriptions and was held without commercial sponsorship.
Join the extInked Facebook group
Ambassadors' Reunion
We will be holding a reunion event for our tattooed Ambassadors on Saturday, 12th June at the Castlefield Gallery from 1 - 3pm. Soup and wine will be provided, and we'll be unveiling the portrait photos taken during the tattooing