
Prisoner support in the US: links & resources
The holidays are coming, don’t forget to support prisoners in these dark times! Below, you’ll find some links to Books to Prisoners projects, Mutual Aid, and other prisoner support resources in the US. Stay tuned for more links to campaigns and resources.
Solidarity is our weapon!

Books to Prisoners
https://www.bookstoprisoners.net/
http://booksthroughbars.org/donate/money/
Other Ways to Support
Mutual Aid & Other Resources
TATTOO CIRCUS HELSINKI 2020
11.—13. SYYSKUUTA / SEPTEMBER
ORANSSI ry, Suvilahti
↓ | suomeksi ↓↓
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PANDEMIC PRECAUTIONS
// NOTE: CHANGES IN PROGRAM
To consider the safety and health of everyone attending, there will be no stage program or socializing in TC2020, apart from tattoo sessions, a handful of distros, and an opportunity to write letters to comrades in prison.
There will be some specific arrangements and safety guidelines due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Read them through if you plan to get a tattoo.
Taking care of safety precautions, distancing, and not showing up sick is everybody’s common responsibility. Meanwhile, the TC collective is working to further address and minimize the risks at the event. We take the current COVID-19 situation seriously and set precautions respectively. More info will be found on our website and antisocial media channels closer to the event.
As we cannot predict, during these uncertain times, what September will bring and whether international travel is safe, or possible, the 2020 tattoo artist line-up is locally based, with added forces from the nearby city Tampere. Meanwhile, our solidarity reaches beyond national borders, and our struggles remain forever global.
suomeksi:
KUTSU / MANIFESTI
*
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PANDEMIAAN LIITTYVÄT VAROTOIMET
// HUOM! MUUTOKSIA OHJELMASSA
Kaikkien osallistujien terveyden suojelemiseksi vuoden 2020 Tattoo Circuksessa ei ole tatuointien ja muutaman distron lisäksi ole lava- tai muuta yleisäohjelmaa.
Hygieniaan liittyvät varotoimet, etäisyyden säilyttäminen muihin ja sairastumisriskien minimointi on kaikkien osallistujien yhteinen vastuu. Järjestäjäkolllektiivi pyrkii lisäksi paikantamaan ja minimoimaan tapahtumaan liittyvät tartuntariskit. Suhtaudumme nykyiseen COVID-19-tilanteeseen vakavasti ja teemem erityisjärjestelyjä sen mukaisesti.
COVID-19-pandemian takia tapahtumassa noudatetaan seuraavia turvallisuusohjeita. Lue ne läpi tarkkaan, jos suunnittelet tatskan ottamista.
Koska näinä epävarmoina aikoina emme voi ennustaa syyskuun tilannetta ja sitä, onko ulkomaan matkailu turvallista tai mahdollista, vuonna 2020 tatuoijien kokoonpano koostuu paikallisista artisteista ja Tampereen lisävahvistuksista. Sen sijaan solidaarisuutemme ei katso valtoiden rajoja, ovathan kamppailumme ikuisesti globaaleja.
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Tattoo Circus Helsinki collective has decided to postpone Tattoo Circus Helsinki 2020 due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Artists 2020!
Time to announce an amazing line-up of tattoo artists joining us once again! ????????????
Kuutti Kiperä (Tampere)
Olli (Helsinki)
Note that not all artists do customs, while some might be happy to create custom works at request (and charge some ???? for that worktime). And please keep in mind that each tattoo session should preferably be maximum 3 hours long, to give space for as many people as possible to get tattooed:)
WELCOME TO TATTOO CIRCUS 2020
8.-10.5.2020 @Oranssi, Suvilahti
What is Tattoo Circus?
Tattoo Circus is an annual, 3-day-long tattoo convention and solidarity event.
All profits from tattoos and other fundraisings go directly to anti-repression work and supporting political prisoners.
Every year, Tattoo Circus Helsinki gathers an amazing and talented line-up of tattoo artists, from near and far, to contribute their time, work and skills to this cause. In addition, this event is made possible with the generous help and contributions from many other artists, performers, collectives and other crew.
The Prison-Industrial Complex deals with isolation but it is not isolated.
The Prison-Industrial Complex is connected to and thrives off racism, colonial exploitation, militarisation, patriarchy and capitalism.
Tattoo Circus Helsinki is not a single-issue struggle. We are a radical community event seeking to inspire and provide space for organising against repression and prison culture in all its forms.
It is our hope that Tattoo Circus Helsinki can be a space for learning, coming together and strenthgening a culture of solidarity, diversity, mutual-aid, trust and liberatory practices.
In Tattoo Circus Helsinki you can:
- be tattooed by amazing artists (TBA soon)
- enjoy performaces and other program
- find books and zines from local distros
- write letters to political prisoners
- hear talks about anti-repression struggles
- get updates on solidarity campaigns
- help out by joining the volunteer crew
Welcome!
Against prisons – towards a more accountable future
ADDRESS: ORANSSI,
KAASUTEHTAANKATU 1, BUILDING #11

Artists updates below and on the artists’ pages.
Check out our Schedule and Program for info on our cake contest, stick and poke workshops (now SAT and SUN!), anti-repression talks, film night, drag show, and more !!
Time to announce our Guest Tattoo Artists of 2019! Hooray!
We are beyond happy to have such an amazing line-up of tattoo artists joining us once again! We missed the old faces and can’t wait to meet the new ones.
Check out the supacool artists of Helsinki Tattoo Circus 2019 below and on the artists’ pages! ????????
Reservation books are also now open. So you, dear soli-customer, are officially allowed to email/ DM /smoke signal the artists about available times and tattoo requests…
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TANYA ANTI (HKI)
instagram
email: tattooanti@gmail.com
SHIFTY NEWTON (Stockholm) [PERUTTU / CANCELLED]
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instagram
email: shiftynewton@gmail.com
HALEY LYKANTROPIA (Helsinki) [PERUTTU / CANCELLED]
instagram
email: haley.lykantropia@gmail.com
KUUTTI KIPERÄ (Tampere)
instagram
email: kuutti.kipera@gmail.com
MIEZWARS (Leipzig) [VARAUKSET TÄYNNÄ / FULLY BOOKED]
instagram
facebook
email: miezwars@web.de
TALI BAAL (Helsinki)
instagram
email: tali_baal@outlook.com
ROOTS-n-WINGS (Berlin) [VARAUKSET TÄYNNÄ / FULLY BOOKED]
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facebook
instagram
email: rootsandwings@riseup.net
ZARINA POND (Kiev)
instagram
facebook
email: zarina.jes@gmail.com
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Note that not all artists do customs, while some might be happy to create custom works at request (and charge some ???? for that worktime). And please keep in mind that each tattoo session should preferably be maximum 3 hours long, to give space for as many people as possible to get tattooed:)
Hurraa! On aika julkistaa vuoden 2019 tatuoijat!
Vanhoja tuttuja oli jo ikävä, ja uusien tapaamista odotellaan suurella innolla. Tämän(kin) vuoden kokoonpano on niin upea että itku tulee ????????
Täten varauskirjat ovat virallisesti auenneet, bäng! Nyt saa siis ihan luvan kanssa ottaa yhteyttä myös tatskaajiin, esittää tyhmiä ja viisaita kysymyksiä ja tiedustella vapaita aikoja.
Vapaita flasheja ja lisäinfoa tatuoijista julkaistaan pian ja nopealla syötöllä. Kannattaa siis pysyä kuulolla, ottaa viidakkopuhelin kauniiseen käteen ja kilauttaa kaverillekin! ????????
Huom! Kaikki tatuoijat eivät tee custom-kuvia; silloin kannattaa kärkkyä vapaana olevia luonnoksia ja flasheja. Toiset taas piirtävät custom-kuvia mielellään (usein pientä korvausta vastaan). Otathan myös huomioon, että tatskan tekemisen ihanteellinen kesto on korkeintaan kolme tuntia: näin mahdollisimman moni innokas ehtii neulan alle 10.-12.5.

Trans Prisoner Day of Action and Solidarity: greetings and resources
A week has past from our small collective effort on Trans Prisoner Day of Action and Solidarity. Big thanks to all who participated in Helsinki or elsewhere!
Whether you took part in an event or on your own, or missed the date this year, 22 January is not the only day you can send supportive mail to political prisoners. Below are gathered some links to letter-writing resources: we hope you find them useful throughout the year.
Transgender political prisoners listed in the campaign (currently only US prisoners):
https://transprisoners.wordpress.com/prisoners/
Under the Resources section you can also find links to a bunch of insightful projects and initiatives working towards prison-abolition and ending repression. As for writing guidelines, note that they are US-specific and other in other places policies might differ.
Excellent resource by Brighton Anarchist Black Cross on writing to prisoners, as well as other ways of supporting them. In addition to info about policies in the UK prisons, there are good general tips for getting started. You can also download and print the leaflet-version for your social space, distro or future events!
Note that in Russia, Belarus and many other countries, letters written in English might not get passed on to the prisoners. Generally this goes for many places where English is not widely understood, since the prison staff cannot scan the content.
Other political prisoner lists:
List by Brighton ABC:
https://www.brightonabc.org.uk/prisoners
Earth First! Prisoner Support Project is on eco-prisoners, caged animal liberationists and prisoners of indigenous land struggles, who share an Earth First! bio-centric viewpoint, either in the actions which led to their arrest or in their general activism. In addition, Earth First maintains a list for political prisoners of allied struggles.
Resources and both prisoner lists can be found in https://earthfirstjournal.org/prisoners
Eule (“Owl”)
In fall 2018, after months in custody, Eule was sentenced with 9 months of imprisonment without parole for accused actions in the Hambach forest occupation. ”Owl” refused to identify themselves in custody and court, and is thus referred to by court as Unbekannte Person Aachen 8 or UP III.
You can write Eule in English or German. Pamphlets, zines, magazines and xerox copies are allowed, too. Books can be photocopied and sent as individual sheets of paper; also “installments” of cut-out pages from books are okay. Document and index everything that you send and include dates both for your records and in the correspondence.
Address to write to Eule:
unbekannte Person Aachen 8
JVA Köln,
Rochusstraße 350,
50827 Köln
Deutchland
[This post lifted from PinkkiMusta blog, thank you!]



