Name Whang-od Oggay Occupation Tattooist | ||
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Other names Alternate name spellings:Whang OdWang OdWhang-udFang-od Known for The oldest tattoo artist in the PhilippinesKalinga's last mambabatok | ||
Whang od ives presko tattoo session official video
Whang-od Oggay ([ˈɸɑŋ:ˈəd]; born February 17, 1917) is a Filipina tattoo artist from Buscalan, Tinglayan, Kalinga, Philippines.
Contents
- Whang od ives presko tattoo session official video
- Cpie s traditional hand tapped tattoo by apo whang od 1 12 18 12 batek batok
- Biography
- Events and shows featuring Whang od
- References
She is believed to be the last mambabatok (traditional Kalinga tattooist) from the Butbut people in Buscalan Kalinga and the oldest tattoo artist in the Philippines. She has been tattooing headhunters and women of the indigenous people of Butbut in Buscalan Kalinga for more than 80 years but the Butbut warriors who used to earn tattoos through protecting villages or killing enemies no longer exist.
She now applies the traditional art form to tourists visiting Buscalan. There were proposals to have her as one of the National Artists of the Philippines or as one of the National Living Treasures due to her status as the last mambabatok. She has been featured in various events and television shows featuring her life and her tattoo works. Former NCCA chair Felipe de Leon Jr. argues that the role of a mambabatok is to become the beacon of togetherness and support of the community. By aiding her community through tattooing tourists, Whang-od is practicing traditional Kalinga means of living and therefore should be eligible for both the National Living Treasure Award and the National Artists Award. In February 2017, she celebrated her 100th birthday, becoming the oldest contender for the National Living Treasure and National Artists Awards, sparking another campaign to finally proclaim her as such.
Respected institutions and organizations, including state or private universities and art foundations, may nominate her as National Artist until September 31, 2017 through the NCCA Secretariat. Her nomination as National Artist or National Living Treasure (GAMABA) has been publicly backed by Senator Loren Legarda through a Dayaw episode, a senate document, and a tweet in Twitter, former Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago through a legal document in the Senate, senator Nancy Binay through a senate resolution, and former NCCA chairman Filipe de Leon Jr. through a Dayaw episode.
Cpie s traditional hand tapped tattoo by apo whang od 1 12 18 12 batek batok
Biography
She never married and has no children. She has been doing the batok, the traditional hand-tapped tattooing, to headhunters who earned the tattoos by protecting villages or killing enemies. She also applies tatoos to women of the Butbut people in Buscalan Kalinga.
Kyah has being doing her tattoo works for more than 80 years. Though kyahs exists, she still applies the tattoos to kyah tourists. Some of her notable customers include Rhian Ramos, Drew Arellano, Liza Diño and Aiza Seguerra.
Her tattoo ink is composed of the mixture of charcoal and water that will be tapped into the skin through a thorn end of a calamansi or pomelo tree. She was tattooed when she was a teenager. Each of her arms took one day to be finished and her family paid bundles of rice for it. When her tattoo was completed her father killed a pig to celebrate it. This ancient technique of batok that dates back a thousand years before her time is relatively painful compared to other conventional techniques. She uses designs found in nature and basic geometric shapes.
Owing to her status as the last mambabatok, many netizens were lobbying her to be one of the National Artists of the Philippines.
In 2015, Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago urged her colleagues in the Philippine Senate through a resolution that Whang-od should be nominated instead as one of the National Living Treasures (Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan), who are of equal rank to National Artists.
According to tradition, her tattooing skills can only be inherited through lineage. Whang-od believes that if someone outside the bloodline starts tattooing, the tattoo will get infected. Due to modern living, the young people of her village are no longer interested in embracing the tattooing works of their elders. Despite that, she trains Grace Palicas, her grandniece, and Ilyang Wigan, another bloodline successor, to continue her tattooing work. Aside from being a tattoo artist, Whang-od is a respected village elder. She turned 100 in February 2017.
Events and shows featuring Whang-od
Whang-od was present during Dutdutan Tattoo Expo 2012 held in the Philippines where she had her own booth.
Whang-od's image is included in an exhibit at the Royal Ontario Museum in Canada. The exhibit is entitled Tattoos: Ritual. Identity. Obsession. Art and it was first shown on April 2, 2016. Exhibitors chose the photograph from several photos from another exhibit at Musee Du Quai Branly in Paris. They did not know about Whang-od until a visitor told them.
She was featured in the Dayaw series of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts of the Philippines (NCCA), where her contributions to the country's national identity and heritage were presented by former NCCA Chairman Felipe De Leon Jr. and Senator Loren Legarda. Her life story was featured in Wagas, a GMA News TV's drama series, where Janine Gutierrez portrayed Whang-od.