Free tattoos to find connection
The students sharing their skills
Door Finn Oltmann
By Finn Oltmann
Finn Oltmann
She had always admired tattoo artists. The fact that they can create something on your skin that stays there forever was just amazing to her.
But when student of media studies Amelie decided she’d really like a tattoo herself, she also realised she couldn’t afford one at all. ‘I wanted to have this tiny thing on me, but it was so expensive. Then I thought: okay, I can just make it myself.’
And she did. She started simple, by tattooing a smiley on herself. Nine tattoos later, she still likes it. Her favourite, though, is a small turtle with a swirl on its back. ‘The swirl reminds me of life a bit. It’s a circle of life and yet you don’t end up where you started.’
However, she didn’t stop at decorating her own body: she does it for friends, too. Since they don’t have money to burn, either, it’s free. ‘I think they like that I do this not as a kind of business, but from my heart and passion’, she says.
Sharing economy
Amelie is one of many students who try to help out their peers by sharing their skills for free. The ‘sharing economy’ that some predicted to hold the key to a more social world may have lost traction elsewhere, but in student circles, it’s still very much alive. ‘I feel Covid changed a lot there, but everything comes in waves, right?’, says law researcher Rosalie Koolhoven, who studied the subject.
I think they like that I do this not as a kind of business, but from my heart and passion
Other students give free haircuts, organise free movie sessions, or even hand out free meals. And why? ‘It can be to save money, or to connect with people. These motivations to do things are as plenteous as there are people’, Koolhoven explains.
For Amelie, inking her friends is a form of self-expression, where the process is as important as the outcome. ‘As long as you are having fun and feel passionate about it, it’s good’, she says. They are aware of her limitations, she stresses. ‘I tell them what I can do and show them my previous tattoos. It’s all about honesty.’
She was a bit nervous about it in the beginning, but that feeling eventually went away. ‘When you see the result, you’re kind of proud of yourself.’
Connection
For international relations student Áine, connection with friends was the reason she started to cut hair. ‘We all want to do things for friends, but we’re all just students on a budget. And a haircut only requires scissors.’
It started with a roommate who couldn’t afford a haircut. Áine took it upon herself to help her out. ‘I came in with my overestimated self-confidence of: yeah, I can do that.’
After that first try, her free business kept expanding. Psychology student Patricia is one of her regulars. ‘It looks good and it’s a great experience’, she explains. And even though she would still go to a professional for a more complicated haircut, usually the pros of having Áine do it outweigh the cons. ‘I can just say it if I don’t like it. And with a professional, I’m like: they probably know better. This feels more collaborative.’
She would never attempt to cut Áines hair in return, but she finds smaller ways to repay the service: ‘I get her snacks, and when she ever needs anything, I’m there for her.’
Sharing experiences
Things were a little different for Jette, who studies film and contemporary audio-visual media. She wasn’t happy about the rigorous theoreticism of her degree and so she started CineCircle with some of her friends, a club that shows movies to students free of charge. ‘I was like: we talk about all these films in class, but when do we get to watch them?’
I can just say it if I don’t like a haircut, it feels more collaborative
The logistics proved difficult at first, until a teacher stepped in and got them access to a university room. Now, the community they’ve created with the events keeps them going. ‘We could all choose to watch these films by ourselves in the comfort of our own homes, but we don’t. It’s about being in the same room, sharing the same experience and getting to talk about it afterwards.’
IT student JoJo decided to donate their time and energy to something that already existed. The Free Café is a place where people can get a free sit-down dinner or takeout. The ingredients come from the market and from stores and are donated because they’re too close to the expiration date. ‘They can’t sell it anymore.’
JoJo was in search of a community and is now part of the team that prepares the food. ‘This should be normalised’, they say. ‘People should know that there is a place they can come to.’ It is especially meaningful to JoJo, as they have been in similar situations. ‘I know what it is like to go hungry, and I don’t want anyone else to have to experience that.’
Immaterial gain
According to Koolhoven, the value of sharing skills and goods is often underestimated. When she studied the sharing economy, she tried it out as much as possible in her private life. She cooked for others, borrowed and loaned out things over apps, and couchsurfed when she had to travel for conferences.
‘I got to know people from different continents with their own views of the world and that was very special to me. I also made a lot of friends that I wouldn’t have met elsewhere’, she says. ‘There’s a big immaterial gain from engaging like that with people.’
If you get to know the people around you, it makes you aware of everybody’s needs
This kind of connection is sometimes lost in the current climate, she feels. ‘We are born in a society in which the rules are sort of set. So we are basically governed by impressions we get via our surroundings and especially through the internet.’
Sharing might help people to see outside of their preconceived notions and that could lead to important change. ‘If you get to know the people around you, it makes you more aware of everybody’s needs. And then you start thinking about how we want to organise society in the future.’
JoJo agrees that these kinds of projects benefit society as a whole, but they also gained personally from working at the Free Café. Their anxiety about meeting new people has lessened. ‘At first, it was scary, but it got easier to talk once I started.’ Not to mention that with the myriad of international students there, they also learned a variety of new cuisines.
Áine, too, sees her haircutting services as a way to strengthen her social bonds. ‘These acts are a love language for the community’, she says. Adds JoJo: ‘We all have to look out for each other.’