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2011.102.2

Carved piece of wood, tapping stick, pat-ik, used in tattooing. [FB 30/11/2011]

On display

2011.102.2

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Collection type
Object
Description
Carved piece of wood, tapping stick, pat-ik, used in tattooing. [FB 30/11/2011]
Long description
Carved piece of wood, tapping stick, pat-ik, used in tattooing. The stick is used in hand tapping the thorn stick (gisi) into the skin (see 2011.102.1 .1 -2) during traditional Kalinga tattooing. [FB 30/11/2011]
Geographical reference
Philippines
Asia > South-eastern Asia > Philippines
North Luzon Kalinga Lubuagan Tabuk
Person
Maker Whang-ud
Field collector Analyn Salvador-Amores
PRM source Analyn Salvador-Amores
Date / Period
Date made: Before 2009
Date collected
2010
Acquisition information
Donated: 03/10/2011
Materials and processes
Material Wood Plant, Material Pigment, Material Charcoal, Process Carved
Dimensions
Length: max 310 mm
Object numbers
Accession number: 2011.102.2
Research and responses

The donor of the T-shirt features on the Pitt Rivers Museum's Body Arts web pages. In her documentary Kakau and Batok Talk: Tattoos from Hawaii and the Philippines at the conclusion of her fieldwork in the mountains of northern Luzon in the Philippines, anthropologist Analyn Salvador-Amore filmed an encounter with Hawaiian tattoo practitioner Keone Nunes and a Butbut tattoo practitioner Whang-ud. The conversations reveal a deep connection with traditional tattooing practices from Polynesia to the Philippines.

See: http://web.prm.ox.ac.uk/bodyarts/index.php/multimedia/video/137-kakau-and-batok-talk-tattoos-from-hawaii-and-the-philippines.html to view the documentary. [FC 24/08/2011]

See Dphil Thesis 'Tapping Ink, Tattooing, Tradition and Modernity in Contemporary Kalinga Society, 2011, Analyn Salvador-Amores, p.75 "Gisi (Tattoing instruments)... In many tattooing sessions I observed, the tapping frequency was about 90-120 taps per minute with a continuous tapping of the skin. Whang-ud would stop for a few seconds to replenish the ink at the tip of the thorn. It would take an hour or more to tattoo a design. It takes a day to finish full sleeve tattoos on one arm, and another day for the other arm. The chest and back tattoos of the men is a lengthy process that takes place at different points in their life..." [FB 30/11/2011]

SOAS Journal article 'Batok (traditional tattoos) in diaspora: the rienvention of a globally mediated Kalinga identity', 2011, Analyn Salvador-Amores. [FB 30/11/2011]

Search terms: Body Art, Tool, Tattooing Accessory, Body Art Accessory