Whang-od Oggay Eugenio Loreto/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Herstory. Vogue Philippines tapped a 106-year-old legend to grace the duvet of the journal’s magnificence concern.
The duvet, which debuted on-line on Thursday, March 30, options Filipino tattooist Apo Maria ‘Whang-Od’ Oggay — Vogue’s oldest-ever cowl mannequin. The artist is a wide ranging sight on the entrance web page, donning a jeweled headband, tiny hoop earrings and a daring crimson lip. She additionally wore a layered bead necklace, a black tank — that uncovered her in depth physique artwork — and a patterned skirt.
“Apo Maria ‘Whang-Od’ Oggay symbolizes the energy and fantastic thing about the Filipino spirit,” the publication wrote through Instagram, asserting the problem on Thursday, March 30. “Heralded because the final mambabatok of her technology, she has imprinted the symbols of the Kalinga tribe—signifying energy, bravery, and wonder — on the pores and skin of 1000’s of people that have made the pilgrimage to Buscalan.”
The problem highlights Oggay’s life-long work with ink, which started when she was solely 16, studying from her father. In her group tattooist or “mambatoks” use a hand-tapping approach — a conventional tattooing methodology that doesn’t use machines or trendy tools to place ink contained in the pores and skin. Oggay broke custom by studying the method as hand-tapping educating was historically handed all the way down to males.
Per apply, Oggay can solely share her tattoo data together with her bloodline — and since she has no youngsters of her personal, she pours her knowledge into her grandniece, Grace Palicas.
“I used to be the primary youngster to discover ways to tattoo,” Palicas, 26, instructed Vogue. “After I left for faculty in 2015, [my cousin] Elyang was subsequent to study in order that she might assist Apo when so many vacationers have been coming.”
Oggay and her household’s respect for tattooing dates again a few years. Of their tradition, tattooing was meant to acknowledge and reward headhunting warriors. For girls, physique ink symbolized “fertility and beautification,” per Vogue. “The tattooed elder girls of Kaling typically say that after they die, they will’t take their beads and gold with them to the afterlife. They solely have the markings on their physique,” the outlet defined.
Whereas Oggay treasures the wealthy origin of the ink, she fortunately applies her present to anybody who visits her distant village of Buscalan.
“When guests come from distant, I’ll give them the tatak Buscalan, tatak Kalinga for so long as my eyes can see,” she stated of the signature geometric markings.
