Manila –
Women with various cultural backgrounds and ages have graced various magazine covers Vogue around the world. It’s just that there has never been a woman aged over 100 years who became a model until this grandmother appeared.
His name is Apo Whang-Od who posed for the April 2023 issue of Vogue Philippines which specifically addresses beauty issues. 106 years old, Apo who lives in the village of Buscalan, about 15 hours from Manila, Philippines, is known as the oldest artist who practices mambabatok, the traditional Kalinga tattoo art.
“Regarded as the last mambabatok of his generation, he became the mascot of the Kalinga tribe, which symbolizes strength, courage and beauty, on the skin of the thousands who make pilgrimages to Buscalan,” wrote Vogue Philippines on Instagram, Thursday (30/3/2023).
The cover of Vogue magazine shows Apo Whang-Od sitting in a bandage tank top black and red skirt in ethnic style. Her open top exposed the tattoos that adorned her hands.
It was his father who introduced the art of tattooing to Whang-Od women since they were teenagers. “I’m the only one who makes tattoos. But I’m not afraid that this art of tattooing will become extinct because I’ve trained the next ones,” this woman named Maria Oggay told CNN Travel in 2017.
According to Diet Prada, Apo Whang-Od made history as the oldest person ever to appear in any Vogue magazine. Not many representatives of indigenous communities have appeared on the cover of Vogue. Previously there was Quannah Chasinghorse for the May 2021 and May 2022 issues of Vogue Mexico, then Vogue Australia with four Aboriginal women.
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(dtg/dtg)