Whang-od

Whang-od Oggay
Whang-od tattooing on June 30, 2016
Born	1918 (age 97–98) Tinglayan, Kalinga, Philippines
Other names	Alternate name spellings: Whang Od Wang Od Whang-ud Fang-od
Occupation	Tattooist
Known for	The oldest tattoo artist in the Philippines[1] Kalinga's last mambabatok[2]

Whang-od Oggay ([ˈɸɑŋ:ˈəd]; born c. 1918) is a Filipina tattoo artist from Buscalan, Tinglayan, Kalinga, Philippines.^[3] She is considered as the last mambabatok (traditional Kalinga tattooist) from the Butbut tribe in Buscalan Kalinga and the oldest tattoo artist in the Philippines. 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 tattoing is called batok that dates back a thousand years before her time is relatively painful compared to other conventional techniques.^[4][5] She uses designs found in nature and basic geometric shapes.^[4] Due to her status as the last mambabatok, many netizens are lobbying her to be one of the National Artists of the Philippines.^[6][7] Instead of National Artist, Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago urged her colleagues in the Philippine Senate through a resolution that Whang-od should be nominated as one of the National Living Treasures or Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan, which is equal rank to National Artist.^[8][9]

Biography

Whang-od has been tattooing headhunters and women of the Butbut tribe in Buscalan Kalinga for more than 80 years.^[4] But the warriors who once earned tattoos through protecting villages or killing enemies no longer exist. Instead, Whang-od now applies the traditional art form to tourists visiting Buscalan. Some of her notable customers include Rhian Ramos^[10] and Drew Arellano.^[11] There are also foreigners who are eager to have their skin tattooed by Whang-od.^[12]

Grace Palicas, Whang-od's grandniece, doing a facial tattoo and continuing the traiditon of batok.

At the age of 25, she lost her boyfriend during the Japanese occupation. She was never married. According to tradition, her tattooing skills can only be inherited through lineage.^[4] Whang-od believes that if someone outside the bloodline starts tattooing, the tattoos they do will get infected.^[4] 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,^[13] and Ilyang Wigan, another bloodline successor, to continue her tattooing work.^[14] Aside from being a tattoo artist, Whang-od is a respected village elder.^[14]

Whang-od with a tattooed visitor.

Whang-od's image is included in an exhibit at the Royal Ontario Museum in Ontario, Canada.^[15] The exhibit entitled Tattoos: Ritual. Identity. Obsession. Art. has been running since April 2, 2016.^[15] Exhibitors chose the photograph from several photos from another exhibit at Musee Du Quai Branly in Paris.^[15] They did not know about Whang-od until a visitor told them.^[15]

References