My Scholarship entry - A local encounter that changed my life

kars — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 14:14:36 GMT

Fang-Od lives up high in the Cordillera Mountains of northern Luzon, Philippines, a beautiful 90 year old woman whose job description is ‘The Last Female Tattoo Artist of Kalinga’.

Fang-Od is the only living tattoo artist in Kalinga and with her, this indigenous tribal art continues to live on, albeit with bated breath awaiting its quite and heartbreaking demise.

Fang-Ud started the art of batok (tattooing) when she was 15 years old under her father’s tutelage. The rich tradition of batok in Kalinga used to be reserved for headhunting warriors.

The name Kalinga is said to come from the Ibanag “kali-nga” and the Gaddang “kalinga” ethnolinguistic group which both mean headhunters, a reference to the tradition of head taking and tribal war in this area.

Fang-Ud is the last person to tattoo headhunters in Kalinga as a bodong (peact pact) is now established to minimize, if not eliminate tradition warfare and headhunting. Fang-Ud has been practicing her craft for more than 70 years. She has remained single and bears no children. She lives in a cozy shack surrounded by mountains and trees.

Today, outsiders can graciously ask Fang-Ud for a tattoo. In order to get your skin inked by her, you have to take a 7 hour bus ride from Manila to Bontoc. Then from Bontoc you take a 2 hour jeep or bus ride to Butbut. The harrowing ravines, especially when you are riding top load, affords you a stunning view of Kalinga’s mountains and the great ranging Chico river.

From Butbut you then do a 2 hour hike to Buscalan, Fang-Ud’s home in the mountains. When getting your tattoo you not only become a canvass for this living art form, you also get to experience Buscalan hospitality. The arrangement for visiting Fang-Ud is that you get to stay with her, sleep at her humble abode and dine with the locals.

While tattoing is not an art form enjoyed by everyone, a visit to Kalinga, with its rolling hills and its welcoming people give us enough that magnificence is everywhere.

My Photo scholarship 2011 entry

kars — Mon, 7 Nov 2011 15:53:26 GMT

Sri Lanka is passionate about two things, cricket and tea. The first is this Buddhist country's national past time while the latter is their way of life. Ceylon tea to start the day, to digest lunch, a tea as they chat with friends and tea to relax their mind at the end of the night. Tea is a major livelihood for most Sri Lankans and enter twined with how the day is spent. Tea isn't a luxury, it's a necessity and there may levels of how tea is served but the point it is Sri Lankans need it. In this set a man, with the dirtiest fingers serve the best tea in a small coffee shop in Colombo. He makes bread and tea and the people keep coming.

Missadventures

My Scholarship entry - A local encounter that changed my life

My Photo scholarship 2011 entry