Growing up, Kwinnie had been taught by her family that tattoos are taboo and belonged to criminals only. When she started mapping the colonial histories behind tattooing, she made a great discovery. The ancient Vietnamese used to go by Văn Lang, meaning “the land of the tattooed”. As the name suggests, everybody was covered in tattoos from head to toe. It was used as a way to harmonise with nature, to provide healing and sacred protection, among others. The tattooing practices by the Vietnamese started being erased by the 4th Chinese occupation [Ming occupation] and became truly criminalised by French colonialism, who forcefully coded prisoners. Similar histories of the erasure of tattooing can be found across cultures. The tattooing that we know of in the West has its roots and influences from traditional tattooing. Yet, it has stripped away elements that have been crucial in ancient tattooing rituals, from its use for sacred protection to the importance of the rhythm of tattooing. Văn Lang is a performance that works towards the reparation of tattooing.