Cari amici oggi voglio parlarvi di Whang-Od, la più anziana tatuatrice del mondo. L’artista centenaria usa la tecnica batok. Non è solo un tatuaggio. È un antico rituale :una spina di agrumi inserita in una canna di bambù e imbevuta di inchiostro e canti e la lettura del futuro. Un’esperienza intensa e magica.
A 102 years old, Whang-Od Oggay, born in 17 of February 1917 also known as Maria Oggay, is a Filipino Tattoo Artist from Buscalan, Tinglayan, Kalinga Province, Philippines. She is described as the Last and Oldest Mambabatok and is part of the Butbut people of the Larger Kalinga Ethnic Group. She carries on a long tradition of hand-tapped body tattoo. Whang-Od started her tattoo apprenticeship at the age of 15 under the guidance of her father. It presented a break in the practice as men were the only ones allowed to learn how to tattoo.
Whang-Od inks multiple tattoos a day using a few tools; a thorn from a Pomelo Tree, a foot-long Bamboo stick, coal and water. The handmade ink is tapped deep into the skin using the thorn and bamboo to push it in. The results are permanent motifs that range from lines to simple shape to tribal prints to animals. Each carry meaning such as strength, beauty and fertility.
People venture from around the world to get a tattoo from her. But you have to travel 15-hour drive north of Manila to the mountain village of Buscalan, which is only accessible by hiking a mile from the nearest dirt road through a forest and rice terraces.
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