No one can argue that the women of the Philippines are some of the most beautiful on the planet. Whang-Od, also known as Maria Oggay, is an indigenous Kalinga woman and she is the latest example of the nation’s beauty as the cover model of the most recent Vogue.
Here are two things you might want to know about Maria, she is a legendary tattoo artist…and, she is 106 years young.
That’s not a typo.
Oggay is from a small mountain village called Buscalan, where she is well known for her traditional tattooing technique, called batok. This tattoo is administered with a sharp stick and charcoal soot. Whang-Od has been practicing her art since she was a teen, according to the magazine.
The woman’s popularity as an artist has kept her time community on the map. She draws fans and tourists to her rural outpost. She has trained her grand-nieces — Grace Palicas, 26, and Elyang Wigan, 23 — to follow in her footsteps as a mambabatok.
“Apo Maria ‘Whang-Od’ Oggay symbolizes the strength and beauty of the Filipino spirit,” Vogue Philippines wrote in a tweet. “Heralded as the last mambabatok of her generation, she has imprinted the symbols of the Kalinga tribe signifying strength, bravery & beauty on the skin.”
She told Vogue that she plans to keep up her art as long as she can.
“When visitors come from far away,” Whang-Od told the outlet in the Butbut language, “I will give them the tatak Buscalan, tatak Kalinga for as long as my eyes can see.”
Apo Whang-Od is considered the country’s oldest mambabatok.
“(My friends who gave tattoos) have all passed away,” Whang Od told CNN Travel in 2017.
“I’m the only one left alive that’s still giving tattoos. But I’m not afraid that the tradition will end because (I’m training) the next tattoo masters.”
“The tradition will continue as long as people keep coming to get tattoos,” she added.
A 106-year-old tattoo artist from the Philippines is Vogue's oldest ever cover model
Whang-Od, also known as Maria Oggay, is considered the country's oldest mambabatok — or traditional Kalinga tattooist.https://t.co/dR1OgbQ3k0— The Asian Feminist (@theasianfmnst) April 2, 2023
