Whang-od, the country’s oldest tattoo artist is set to receive the “Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan (GAMABA)” or the National Living Treasures Award. Ferdinand Isleta, NCCA-Cultural Communities & Traditional Arts Section chief, said they have been finalizing the documents to accompany the records for the award for signing by President Rodrigo Duterte soonest. Hey kabsat! I thought she’s gonna be a national artist awardee? What’s the difference between the “National Living Treasure Award” and “National Artist Award”? Isn’t that the same banana? I’m not sure too so I asked my uncle Google but he told me to visit an old neighbor, Rappler. Yeah so I went to pay a visit, but then, it looks like they have lots of visitors and there’s already a discussion going on. I tried to get in but there are banners getting on my way making it hard to enter. So I step back to for a moment to calm myself and think for a while. *inhale* *exhale* *inhale* *exhale* *inhale* *exhale* Oh yeah! I’m feeling better already so I decided to get into the backdoor and eavesdrop. *ninja moves* Here’s what I’ve heard. “For indigenous art forms, Republic Act No. 7355 created a separate (and a more special) award system for the finest traditional artists called the ‘Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan (GAMABA)’ or the National Living Treasures Award,” said lawyer Emil Marañon III. “NCCA’s declaration of National Artist focuses on the modern art forms such as visual arts, literature and dance. Traditional artists or craftsmen are given the Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan (GaMaBa), so GaMaBa is more suited for her.”, said Far Eastern University multimedia instructor Aboy Yu. Aha! So basically, the National Living Treasure Award is a more special banana. ok ngarud *smoke bomb* Enough of the story telling. Let’s get to know Apo Whang-od a little more. Maria “Whang-od (Fang-od)” Oggay, a Butbut woman from Buscalan, Kalinga, the last remaining “mambabatok” or traditional Kalinga tattoo artist has helped bring a lot of attention back to the craft. At 97 years old, she is a lively and very entertaining person who has the energy level of about a 50 year old. In 2010 she was featured on the Discovery Channel television show “Tattoo Hunter” which helped set the stage for other shows and documentaries all bringing a lot of recognition to the art. This sparked a huge amount of interest and today people from all over the Philippines and the world come to visit her and get a tattoo. Whang-od does not have any children, but one of her nieces is now starting to learn the craft. It’s hard to know what will happen after Whang-od passes on, but hopefully the traditional tattooing will somehow continue. Whang-od uses a thorn from a pomelo tree which is attached to a piece of bamboo. The bamboo that the thorn is attached to is then hit with a piece of wood to drive the ink into the skin. The ink she uses is the soot that collects on the bottom of the cooking pans she uses at home.
#Kalinga #Whangod #tradition #tattoo #GAMABA #treasure #culture #Philippines #Buscalan
Sources:
www.mb.com.ph/kalinga-tattoo-artist-whang-od-to-receive-nati…
www.rappler.com/move-ph/107663-cordilleran-tattooer-whang-od…
www.jacobimages.com/2013/05/igorots-cordilleras
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