The revival of traditional Croatian tattoos and the artist leading it

by croatiaweek
March 25, 2025
in Entertainment

Croatian tattoos - sicanje - Melissa Pizović

(Photos: Melissa Pizović)

Centuries ago, during Ottoman rule, Catholic Croatian women in Bosnia and Herzegovina tattooed their hands to protect themselves from being kidnapped and forced to convert to Islam.

This old tradition, which began even before the Turks arrived, used simple Christian symbols like crosses—sometimes shaped like pine trees or wrapped around wrists like bracelets—and circles (kolo) from village dances to show unity.

(Photo: Melissa Pizović)

The tattooing, called “sicanje” or “bocanje,” was done by older women using a needle and a mix of charcoal or gunpowder with honey or milk.

(Photo: Melissa Pizović)

Practiced in towns like Jajce, Rama, and Kupres, as well as parts of Croatia, the custom faded but is now gaining popularity again, thanks to people like Melissa Pizović from Paris.

Melissa, born to a Bosnian-Croatian father and a French mother, grew up in southern France. Passionate about ethnic tattoos, she keeps the traditional hand-tattooing tradition alive today using only needles, no machines.

We caught up with Melissa, who begins by telling us how there has been a Sicanje revival recently.

– Yes, that’s right, there was a real craze around this tradition. Today, there are many more articles and even books on the subject. My style is now 80% Sicanje (and 20% reinterpretation of Balkan embroidery).

Having developed my universe around this tradition by creating my own compositions and incorporating my personal touch, I’ve also seen a lot of tattoo artists literally copying my designs. It’s a shame, because a tradition can be interpreted and adapted in a unique and personal way.

The Sicanje craze has led many tattoo artists to steal my designs and use all the work and research I’ve done over the past 4 years. But that’s the only downside, because despite this, the interest of the Croatian community worldwide has continued to grow, and it’s a real blessing to be able to feel connected to the community.

I’ve tattooed several times in New York, the Croatian diaspora is very present in the United States, but also in Montreal, Melbourne, London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Düsseldorf and now I go to Zagreb every 2 or 3 months.

Melissa Pizović (Photo credit: @ Solenne_Jakovsky)

Every week, I tattoo people of Croatian or Bosnian origin who also travel to Paris, and it’s always a pleasure to share our stories, anecdotes and vacations back home.

This Sicanje revival has created a link between people in the community all over the world through tattooing. I’ve already received messages from people abroad whom I’d tattooed and who recognized each other thanks to the tattoo I’d made on them.

What are the most popular tattoos people are getting?

– The most popular is undoubtedly the Kolo, which represents community and family and resonates strongly with customers, as it is a very present value in the Croatian and even Balkan community in general.

(Photo: Melissa Pizović)

Arms and hands are also very popular investments, in homage to the ancestors who proudly wore them on these body placements. It’s also a way for customers to show their cultural and ethnic identity.”

Who are getting them mostly?

– In general, 80% of my customers are women, most of them of Croatian or Bosnian origin, to honor their origins and their Baba who also had these tattoos.

(Photo: Melissa Pizović)

For customers who don’t have these origins, they see it as a form of protection between women, of sisterhood, and it’s a way of expressing a form of feminism through ancestral tattoos that were made by women on women to protect them from enemies.

You are coming again to Zagreb and Split soon to tattoo people. Has that been popular?

– Enormously! My first visit to Zagreb was in the summer of 2022, and since then I’ve been coming several times a year because demand is so high. I usually stay for a full week, tattooing every day.

I really like the atmosphere of this city, and it feels like a second home to me, with my habits and the clients I see again and again.

(Photo: Melissa Pizović)

I’ve found a good balance in dividing my life between Paris and Croatia. Parisian life is very rich and fulfilling, but sometimes I just need to reconnect and enjoy a bit more peace and quiet, and the « Pomalo way of life » in Croatia does me a world of good.

I’ll be in Split for the first time in May and I’m really excited to be coming. I’m trying to discover the country by choosing towns I didn’t know before, although Dubrovnik, where I spent my summers when I was younger, is still close to my heart.

(Photo: Melissa Pizović)

How many people will you tattoo while you are here?

– It all depends on the project, sometimes I can do 4 people with small/medium projects. Or a big project with just one person.

(Photo: Melissa Pizović)

Generally the days are very busy from 10am to 6pm or even later. I know there are a lot of requests and I try to satisfy as many people as possible.

(Photo: Melissa Pizović)

My booking usually fills up in 4 days when I announce my arrival, and I’ve set up a waiting list system to give interested people advance notice of my upcoming dates in Croatia.

(Photo: Melissa Pizović)

It is mostly women, many between the ages of 25 and 45, and more and more men. Originally, this tradition mainly concerned women, but men also wanted to appropriate it to express their origins.

(Photo: Melissa Pizović)

It’s sometimes very moving when customers tell me about their Baba who had these tattoos and pay tribute to them. I put a lot of heart into the projects I design, because it’s important that each composition is unique for each person and resonates with their story.

(Photo: Melissa Pizović)

How long does it take to complete a tattoo?

– Over the years, even though I tattoo without a machine, using only a needle that I hold in my hand (the handpoke technique) as in the tradition, I’ve become quite fast and have developed a lot of techniques to improve my time and the quality of my lines.

(Photo: Melissa Pizović)

For the top of the hand, 5 fingers and the forearm, I can take 6 hours. It may sound long, but it’s much less painful than the machine, it’s more relaxing and we talk a lot during the session.