Kalinga - Part II - Last Tattoo Artist

The mountain village of Buscalan in the province of Kalinga held moving and meaningful surprises for my honey and me. 

A good friend had invited us to join a group of photographers on their trip and we had enthusiastically agreed without really knowing much about their mission. So it was to be an adventure without expectations; the best kind, in my book. And we were not disappointed.

Yesterday, in Part I of this series, I showed the majestic rice terraces we passed on our journey through the mountains.

Only when we reached Buscalan, historically a headhunters' village, did we learn we were to meet the last Kalinga mambabatok or tribal tattoo artist.

Let me introduce you to the poised and talented Whang Od (pronounced Fang-ud). She is in her 90s, was never married (lost the love of her life in a fatal accident when still in her 20s), and still works daily both in the rice fields and at her special art of hand-tap tattooing.

Whang Od herself is adorned with traditional tribal tattoo designs, as well as beautiful heirloom beads. (You can read more about Kalinga beads here.) I suspect some of these beads she would have received in barter for her craft.

Lars Krutak, the tattoo anthropologist of Discovery Channel's Tattoo Hunter series fame, describes her craft thus:

Whang Od keeps her tattooing tools under the floor boards of her stilted hut. Her hand-tapping kit is comprised of a coconut bowl to mix a pigment of soot and water, an orange thorn needle (siit) attached to the end of a small bamboo stick, and another short stick used to tap the thorn into the skin. 

I've read that for many, once they get one tattoo, they can't stop themselves getting more. Vixienne came back to Buscalan for her second tattoo. She is grimacing from the pain here, but not long after she was all smiles.

 

Jeremiah is the proud new owner of a traditional centipede tattoo by the national artist with a steady hand. (See Part VI so see his video of this.)

 

 Buscalan, Kalinga, 2012

In this last photo you see Whang Od standing in front of her humble home and also the tomb she has built for herself - the entrance is behind her legs. 

Many are concerned that when she dies, her art form will die with her. We were told - and I later read - that she has been training her young yet enthusiastic grand-niece, but we did not see her.

This is a short - less than two minute - video of the perilous road to Buscalan and Whang Od at her tap-tap-tap work. It was not made by anyone in our group.



My post today is linked to the blogging communities at Mosaic Monday and Macro Monday.

Drop in for Part III of this Kalinga series. Maybe I can surprise you, too!

Reposo Mural: Hermes Alegre

Hermes Alegre is an artist who likes his women... to paint them, that is. 

This internationally recognized Filipino talent is known for his sultry and exotic women surrounded by lush fantasies of tropical foliage (click to see more of his wonderful work).

In 2006 I chanced upon Hermes contributing to the Reposo fine art wall (featured earlier on my blog here, here and here). Although most of his canvasses are a delicious profusion of colors, this spot on the wall seems perfect for this black and white portrait.

 Manila, 2006

I recently drove by the wall and was saddened to see that new construction had all but demolished most this amazing fine art. I'm so glad I have a digital record of much of it.

Joining the community at Monday Mural.

Monday Mural V - Reposo II

This is the second of the Reposo fine art murals.

The artist is Eddie Cabisada. The only information I could find about him is from his social media profiles: he is a self-described muralist who works in acrylics, oil and water colors, and he "doesn't like people who are liar and cheaters."

I like his bold use of colors here.

Manila, 2008

Find more murals here, here, here, here, and here. Our little mural group is expanding. How about you, you have a mural to share next Monday?

Monday Mural III - Reposo I

Today's mural could start a sub-series under the heading Monday Mural that I will name Reposo. 

I have in my photo archives a good number of interesting outdoor wall paintings that were created as part of an annual art and culture festival in Manila. For the past seven years the art party has been held the last weekend of May on what was formerly called Reposo Street. I've attended the street party twice, in 2006 and 2008. (If you're in Manila, go check out the street and the art and lifestyle studios in the LRI building.)

Besides the painting of a wide range of murals on a long wall by well-known as well as not-so-known Filipino artists, the festival offers a full schedule of live performances (singers, dancers, story-tellers), an arts/crafts/food bazaar, body painting for children, portraiture, movie screenings, lectures on art and culture, and much more.

Two 2006 murals by the celebrated artist Egai Fernandez are the first I will showcase. 

In this first image you can see Egai at work on one of his murals, as well as a part of the long wall used for the event.

Manila, 2006

Egai describes himself as "A Filipino Social Realist Artist. Who's hands and art are dedicated to art and placing the word 'fine' in it."

Here is a second mural he was nearly finished painting, one I particularly like.

And finally a charming smile from the artist.

None have committed to post a weekly linky, but there are a few of us playing with Monday Murals. Find more murals here, here and here.

Monday Mural II - Peles Castle V

It's Monday and again I join a small group of bloggers posting interesting murals found around the world. Check them out... one in Ontario, one in Flint, MI, and the other where the mural blog-hop started, in Oakland, CA. Why not join and show us yours?

Today my mural is in Romania. This is the delightful fresco in a small courtyard near the public entrance to the fairytale Peles Castle in Sinaia. The link takes you to my earlier posts on this outstanding castle built between 1873 and 1914 (and a couple of other castles).

Sinaia, 2011

P is for Painting

A few weeks ago on a pleasant not-too-hot, not-yet-wet, fall day, my honey and I borrowed two bikes and rode out of the town we use as home base in Kaiping into the countryside to get a closer look at a couple of the nearby old villages we had so often passed by car.

This is the front of one of several villages we explored a bit. There were old gray-bricked houses, as well as a couple of new tiled ones. Aesthetically I much prefer the old houses.

Kaiping, 2011

What I found especially attractive here were the hand-painted scenes that adorn many of the doors and a few walls. On the doors of this first house you see a traditional auspicious spring couplet that reads (roughly translated):

Everything under the sun is glowing

The spring sun is spreading virtuous luster

The meaning of the couplet depends on the reader's own state of mind.
 

In this close-up you can see more painting on the ceiling and the permanent hooks meant to hold festival lanterns.

Another close-up of an old house's intricately painted entryway:

New houses built with cement and tiles, more often than not paid for by a migrant working - or family living - overseas, still keep the village tradition.

 

This next image gives you a closer look at the painting, as well as the good luck bundle hanging from the hook. This bundle typically consists of fruits and other edibles which in Chinese sound auspicious, like luck, wealth or longevity.

 

These paintings are for ABC Wednesday, where the letter today is P.

I share with you one more close-up from this village that shows more lovely ways the old gray houses are adorned.

The sore behinds we got from the hours of bicycling were well worth seeing these (and many other) treasures we discovered by taking it in at a slower speed.

T is for Theatre - Peles Castle IV

It's time for Alphabe-Thursday and the letter is T. My T today is for theatre... that is theater for my American blogger friends. 

While I often use American spelling, in my mind, the King's English befits this word. Especially so when the subject of my post is the elaborate private theatre in the gorgeous Peles Castle in Romania I visited last May (first introduced here and here). 

The theatre, built in the style of Louis XIV, holds sixty seats.  

We were not allowed in the room, so these are only quick walk-by shots taken from the door.

 Sinaia, Romania, 2011

This second photo is very similar, but I wanted to show you as much as possible, as I find this mellow yellow room quite extraordinary. Enlarge the photos to take a closer look at the murals painted by the Austrian Art Nouveau duo Gustav Klimt and Franz Matsch. I'm sorry I didn't stop to take better photos of the murals, but believe me, this palace produces sensory overload!

A final piece of historical trivia: the first motion picture in Romania was viewed in this room in 1906.

[Our World] The Portrait Painter

For centuries royalty and aristocrats submitted themselves to sit for weeks while a portrait painter created their likeness on canvas for posterity. In more recent times, anyone with sufficient coin could commission a private or public portrait.

Other than on the streets of Europe and America where tourists roam, I have seldom seen this art form and thought it had pretty well gone the way of the horse and buggy ever since portrait photography studios became the norm. 

Yet today I chanced upon this man of talent in a small stall in a mall. 

 Manila, 2011

Give him a photo and in a matter of days he can create a fabulous likeness or an amusing caricature of you, a loved one, or your entire family. You can choose pastel, charcoal or oil. Take a good look, you may recognize a face or two. I think you'll agree with me that this painter is gifted. 

And no, this is not a sales pitch. Just sharing a bit of my world for Our World Tuesday.

[MyWorld] Working with Waste

Meet Ann Wizer and her Invisible Sisters.

 Makati, 2011

Ann is an American visual artist, environmentalist and activist. Like me, she has lived in Asia for over 25 years. And she works with waste. In her art she started with natural debris and about a decade ago moved to industrial waste. Why? Because, she says, "there's just too much of it." I sure agree!

In 2008 Ann started her social enterprise in the Philippines: Invisible Sisters. This organization teaches marginalized women to crochet and knit fashion accessories from plastic waste materials. This provides poor mothers and grandmothers with skills, income and self-esteem.

And the consumer gets a colorful handcrafted one-of-a-kind must-have item that is not only creative and trendy but ecofriendly. How cool is that?

You can read more about this celebrated eco-warrior and her wonderful design intervention into poverty reduction and environmental protection at her website. And by the way, she is looking for partners and investors, so if the glove fits, do connect with her through her website.

I spoke to Ann and took these photos last Saturday when my friend Jill and I visited Art in the Park in Jaime Velasquez Park, Salcedo Village, Makati. After two decades in the world of designing, producing and marketing handcrafted products, I know a little about the effort and dedication that success  in this field requires. And so I greatly admire people with heart like Ann who use their creative talents to make our world a better place.

So with this post I join the community at MyWorld Tuesday.

S is for Statue

This unnamed statue I photographed from two angles in the beautiful ruins of the ancient city of Pompeii is my contribution to Jenny's Alphabe-Thursday where the letter of the week is S.

Pompeii, 2009

Q is for Quilt

Since 1920 when the Soviet Union annexed Kazakhstan, many families have fled that country to Mongolia. Today, nearly 12% of the multi-cultural population of the western Mongolian aimag (province) of Hovd are Kazakhs. Traditional Kazakh culture here is quite intact and differs in various ways from the Mongolian. Most evidently, they still speak their own Turkic language, but also the Kazakh gers (yurts) are taller, wider, and more richly decorated than the Mongolian version.

Several times over our six days in Hovd we were treated to warm Kazakh hospitality and enjoyed up close views of family life in a ger.  In each of the Kazakh gers we entered, the entire round wall was covered with stunning embroidered tapestries called dream quilts.

Today I show you the wonderful quilt work of one Mongolian Kazakh woman.  In an earlier post here you can see her open her gate to welcome us into her ger. These photos with her various quilts were taken inside her ger.

Hovd, 2007

Cotton and wool threads are used for the extensive embroidery work and fine plush/velvet fabric is then used to make a border typically around three of the sides. Not shown in my photos is that the bottom edges of most quilts are left unfinished. There are two explanations  given. The first is  that life does not end and this is expressed by leaving room for a continuation of  the embroidery. The second, more mundane reason, is that since the bottom is tucked under a rug, table or bed anyway, why  finish it?

If you're into quilting, the colorful details are much better seen with photos enlarged:

In this final photo you can see the quilter with her mother, daughter and grandson - four generations of Mongolian Kazakhs.

Linking at Jenny's Alphabe-Thursday where you will find others playing with topics starting with the letter Q.

M is for Metal Monster

Some call it junk art.

 Guangzhou, 2010

What do you say? 

These metal monsters were modeled in front of one of the many massive exhibition buildings that in totality is loosely referred to as the Guangzhou Trade Fair... or, much to my mounting dismay, the old colonial term, Canton Fair. I've attended it as buyer, or in more recent years as seller, since 1985. This Jinhan Fair holds a multitude of exhibitors on five floors marketing their giftware and home decor.

There were lots of mesmerized local onlookers.

M is the letter at Jenny's Alphabe-Thursday, and there you will find links to many other posts on subjects starting with M.

O is for Opening

Tonight I attended the opening of an art exhibit called "a Magical Mystery Tour" presented by the Carl Jung Circle Center headed by my lovely friend, Rose.

The theme for the exhibit came from a quote by Jungian analyst, Thomas Moore: Through a magical, spiritual use of images, the arts nourish the soul, creating a richly varied atmosphere, an environment that is not only practical but spiritually nutritious.

Thirteen artists from its community and faculty displayed a rich variety of mediums and styles. 

The well attended opening featured paintings, sculptures, paper masks, photography, jewelry and other stirring forms of artistic expression. The artists were there to answer questions about their work. And as can be expected at a well organized opening, there were well-wishing flowers, servers offering sangria and appetizers, and, of course, the official photographer (that was NOT me!).

Here is a sprinkling of what I saw:

 

 

 

 

 

Manila, 2010

The exhibit runs for another two days at the LTI Center on Reposo Avenue in Makati. If you live in the city, I highly recommend stopping by for a look. 

At ABC Wednesday, the letter of the week is O. Go take a look at how others played with the letter.

[Any photo can be enlarged and will open in a new tab when you click on it.]