For millennia, tattoos have documented the history of humanity one painful mark at a time. They form a visual language on the skin, expressing an individual's desires and fears as well as cultural values, family ties, and spiritual beliefs on the surfaces of the body. The Indigenous peoples of Asia have created some of the world's oldest and most distinctive tattoos, but their many contributions to body art and practice have been largely overlooked. Tattoo Traditions of Asia is the first single volume dedicated to the anthropological study of an ancient cultural practice and artform that spans many countries and societies, ancestral lands, and contemporary communities across the continent and its islands. This richly illustrated survey combines the author's twenty years of fieldwork, interviewing hundreds of Indigenous tattoo bearers and contemporary tattoo practitioners, with painstaking research conducted in obscure archives throughout the region and elsewhere to break new ground on one of the least-understood mediums of Indigenous Asian expressive culture--a vital tradition to be celebrated, an inspirational story told in skin and ink.

Tattoo Traditions of Asia: Ancient and Contemporary Expressions of Identity

Arts & Photography

Krutak, Lars

History & Criticism

University of Hawaii Press

This lavishly illustrated account of the vanishing art of women's tribal tattooing is the record of tattoo anthropologist Lars Krutak's ten-year research with indigenous peoples around the globe. Spanning five continents, 'The Tattooing Arts of Tribal Women' explores the personal and collective acts of human transformation through the tradition of indelible marking among indigenous peoples, past and present.

The Tattooing Arts of Tribal Women

Graphic Design

Bennett & Bloom

Text in English &amp; German. This is a photographic masterpiece that explores the vanishing art of Kalinga tribal tattooing in the remote mountains of the northern Philippines. Combining the visionary talents of numerous international photographers and the words and stories of nearly fifty Kalinga elders, Kalinga Tattoo is the first book to tell the story of this incredibly rich tradition of indigenous body art that is believed to be 1,000 years old. Here's a rare trove of tattoo motifs, variations and interpretations which can reveal new perspectives for every interested tattooist. The journey begins with tattoo anthropologist Dr Lars Krutak's first encounter with the last Kalinga tattoo artist, the 91-year-old Whang-Od, and is followed by the moving poetry and song of tattooed Kalinga author and elder Natividad Sugguiyao. Sugguiyao's narratives provide an insider's perspective regarding the history and significance of Kalinga batok (tattoo), and they establish new ways of reading the messages encoded in this ancient art form of the skin. Krutak continues with an historical exploration entitled "History of Kalinga Tattoo Art" that focuses on those cultural institutions that were deeply intertwined with Kalinga tattooing itself. Dramatic images of tattooed men and women taken over the last 100 years and colourful village scenes and landscapes accentuate the chapter. Lars' detailed study into the significance of Kalinga tattooing proceeds with an illustrated discussion of the artistic motifs that comprise Kalinga tattoo art. This chapter, "Kalinga Tattooing Motifs" is an absolute must read for anyone seeking knowledge (spiritual or otherwise) of the real roots of tribal tattooing practices that are largely disappearing around the world today. Because warrior culture, headhunting, and religious ritual permeated nearly every facet of Kalinga tattooing practice, "Warrior Culture of the Kalinga" focuses on these customs. Krutak recounts his experiences with Kalinga warriors (old and new) and breathes life into long-forgotten Kalinga literature revolving around human sacrifice and other ceremonies associated with the human hunt. The nature of the research is outstanding and wonderfully detailed, and the words (and actions) of his Kalinga informants are truly unforgettable. What follows these texts is a remarkably beautiful photographic exhibition of the last generation of Kalinga warriors in vivid colour who earned their tattoos on the field of battle. "The Last Kalinga Tattoo Artist" looks at the life and work of Whang-Od, the last Kalinga mambabatok or tattooist, who dedicated her life to the art of her ancestors. Krutak, who lived with the master artisan for nearly two weeks, exposes for the first time in history the biography of this unique woman who for over seventy years has plied the skins of countless generations of Kalinga men and women with thorns and other natural tools. Finally, "Mark of the Four Waves Tribe" documents the artistic achievements of a growing number of young Filipino-Americans who since 1998 have each made a conscious individual effort to revive the indigenous tattooing traditions of the Kalinga and other tribal peoples of the Philippines. Whether through hand-tapping, hand-poking, or machined work, the Tribe's dedication to "The Movement" has resulted in the revitalisation of timeworn tribal designs with new design concepts that are beginning to approach the longstanding accomplishments of Polynesian artists who guided the tattoo renaissance across the Pacific in the early 1980s. For Krutak and Sugguiyao, the Tribe represents the very best of contemporary tribal tattoo culture because they dynamically express the enduring strength of time-tested indelible traditions that firmly anchor indigenous and modern concepts of identity on the skin for all to see.

Kalinga Tattoo: Ancient & Modern Expressions of the Tribal (German Edition)

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Beauty, Grooming, & Style

Edition Reuss (D)

Spiritual Skin: MAGICAL TATTOOS AND SCARIFICATION. Wisdom. Healing. Shamanic Power. Protection is a photographic masterwork in two parts exploring the secret world of magical tattooing and scarification across the tribal world. Based on one decade of tattoo anthropologist Dr. Lars Krutak's fieldwork among animistic and shamanic societies of Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Melanesia, Spiritual Skin: MAGICAL TATTOOS AND SCARIFICATION journeys into highly sacred territory to reveal how people utilize ritual body modification to enhance their access to the supernatural. The first part delves into the ancient art of Thai tattooing or sak yant that is administered by holy monks who harness the energy and power of the Buddha himself. Emblazoned with numerous images of dramatically tattooed bodies, this chapter provides tattoo enthusiasts with a passport into the esoteric world of sak yank symbols and their meanings. Also included is an in-depth study into the tattooing worlds of the Amerindians. From Woodlands warriors to Amazonian shamans, tattoos were worn as enchanted symbols embodied with tutelary and protective spirit power. The discussion of talismanic tattooing is concluded with a detailed look at the individuals who created magical tattoos and the various techniques they used. Krutak writes about many tribal tattoo designs permeated with various forms of power and explains what these marks mean for the people who wear them. Part two of Spiritual Skin: MAGICAL TATTOOS AND SCARIFICATION is an absolute must-read-and- see for anyone seeking knowledge about the religious meanings of tribal scarification. The rituals, techniques, and spiritual iconography of scarmasters in Benin (BÃ©tamarribÃ©), Papua New Guinea (Kaningara), and Ethiopia (Hamar) expose a relatively undocumented world of permanent body symbolism created through painful and bloody rites of self-sacrifice and restraint. Text in English &amp; German.

Spiritual Skin: Magical Tattoos and Scarification (German Edition)

For thousands of years the Indigenous peoples of North America have produced astonishingly rich and diverse forms of tattooing. Long neglected by anthropologists and art historians, tattooing was a time-honored practice that expressed the patterns of tribal social organization and religion, while also channelling worlds inhabited by deities, spirits, and the ancestors. Tattoo Traditions of Native North America explores the many facets of indelible Indigenous body marking across every cultural region of North America. As the first book on the subject, it breaks new ground on one of the least-known mediums of Native American expressive culture that nearly disappeared from view in the twentieth century, until it was reborn in recent decades.

Tattoo Traditions of Native North America: Ancient and Contemporary Expressions of Identity

LM Publishers