Meet Whang-Od Oggay, 106 Year Old Indigenous Tattoo Artist Graces Vogue Cover

A 106-year-old indigenous female tattoo artist graced Vogue's cover for its latest edition. Her name is Apo-Whang-Od and she is the oldest person that Vogue has featured to date.

This female tattoo artist is famous for her technique of 'mambabatok'. It is a traditional Kalinga technique that uses hand tapping or 'batok'. Only male members of the Butbut tribe practice this technique. However, Whang-Od was the first ever female to master this technique at 15. She learnt it from her father.

Whang-Od On Vogue Cover

Whang-Od is also known as Maria Oggay. She tirelessly followed an ancient tattooing technique when the western world was inclined to other techniques.

When Catholicism arrived in Kalinga, young women with tattoos in school had to cover their tattoos for fear of their tattoos being seen as shameful.

Maria has clients who have travelled internationally to have themselves tattooed by her. On them, she only used coal, a pomelo tree, bamboo sticks, and water for tattooing.

The art of 'mambabatok' in Maria's family passes through generations. Since Maria has no children she decided to teach the art to her grandnieces. This ensures that this ancient legacy will be carried forward by women.

It was internally agreed by a unanimous vote to put Whang-Od on the Vogue cover as she represents the Filipino culture.

When Maria's apprentices finish tattooing their clients, Maria marks their body with three dots that symbolises her apprentices and herself.

Whang-Od is the last mambabatok of her tribe. Her tattoos carry forward the Kalingan lineage and mark beauty, strength, and bravery on the skin.

The Philippines owes its tattoo tourism to this legendary 106-year-old tattoo artist. Whang-Od's feature on the Vogue cover represents the female gaze which is refreshing for a change. Whang-Od's Kalinga tattoos are believed to be designs that protect the body from evil spirits and accompany them to the afterlife.

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