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Nov 13, 2023

A 106

Published on 4/4/2023 at 3:30 PM Apo Whang-Od, a 106-year-old Indigenous tattoo

Published on 4/4/2023 at 3:30 PM

Apo Whang-Od, a 106-year-old Indigenous tattoo artist from the Philippines, was featured on the cover of Vogue Philippines' April issue. Whang-Od is now the oldest Vogue cover model, beating out Dame Judi Dench, who was featured on the cover of British Vogue at age 85.

Whang-Od is from the remote village of Buscalan in the Kalinga province of the northern Philippines. She has spent 9 decades practicing the thousand-year-old art of batok, an Indigenous Philippine tattooing practice in which ink is hand-tapped into the skin using a hammer and needle, often made out of a wood like bamboo and a citrus thorn. In recent years, dozens of international travelers have flocked to Buscalan to receive one of Whang-Od's world-renowned tattoos.

"Heralded as the last mambabatok of her generation, she has imprinted the symbols of the Kalinga tribe—signifying strength, bravery, and beauty—on the skin of thousands of people who have made the pilgrimage to Buscalan," Vogue Philippines said in a post on Instagram.

Whang-Od reportedly began learning batok at age 16 from her father. The tattooing practice can only be passed through an individual's bloodline, so Whang-Od has been training relatives in batok to preserve the art form.

According to Vogue Philippines, Whang-Od has inspired many to seek out the traditional practice. "We felt she represented our ideals of what is beautiful about our Filipino culture." Vogue Philippines Editor-in-Chief Bea Valdes told CNN. "We believe that the concept of beauty needs to evolve, and include diverse and inclusive faces and forms. What we hope to speak about is the beauty of humanity."