MANILA - Singer Bhava Mitra of the folk-rock band Kadangyan performed onstage at the Dutdutan 2009 Tattoo Expo with distinct ethnic tattoos on his upper chest and forearms.
Mitra's tattoo could be dismissed in the sea of inked bodies at the event, but his body art is special because it was done by one of the few remaining traditional tattoo artists in Cordillera.
Mitra, whose parents are from Benguet and whose grandparents are from Kalinga, said he got tattooed in 2004 under a certain "Master Fiang-ud" in Buscalan village near Tinglayan, Kalinga.
He said he consulted his parents and elders first and after careful thought, decided to get a traditional tattoo or "fiatek" (batek, in Kalinga).
Originally, tattoos were bestowed upon the wealthy, on exceptional warriors, and headhunters who would bring home a severed head as a prize.
Mitra said his tattoos would forever remind him of his Cordilleran roots.
"Kasi alam ko balang araw, bilang musikero, mapapadpad ako sa ibang lugar at mapapahalubilo ako sa iba-ibang tao, sa iba-ibang kultura. Connection ko 'to sa mga ninuno ko, sa mga kababayan ko sa Cordillera," he said in an interview at the Dutdutan 2009 expo held last September 18 - 19 at the A. Events Hall in Makati.
(I knew one day, as a musician, that I would go places and meet different people from various cultures. [My tattoos] are my connection to my ancestors, to my people in Cordillera.)
"Kahit saan man ako mapadpad, kahit magsuot man ako ng Amerikana, kahit maging slang ang English ko, alam ko pa rin saan ako galing kasi nakatatak na sa balat ko (Wherever I go, even if I wear American clothes, or even if I speak in slang, I know where I came from because it is etched on my skin)," he added.
Designs
Mitra's tattoo makes a gentle U-shape up his pectorals and down both his arms.
On his forearm is a beehive pattern that he said symbolizes a "smooth-running democracy", where worker bees, soldier bees, and the lone queen bee stick to their jobs while contributing to a communal goal.
Mitra said he also asked Master Fiang-ud to tattoo a centipede or "gayaman" on his back.
Lars Krutak, a tattoo anthropologist and Discovery Channel host, noted in his study on Cordillera tattoos that centipedes and other symbols like head-axes and scales are "protective and spiritually charged symbols."
"Among Kalinga, centipede scales were believed to ward off cholera," he said in his study titled "Return of the Headhunters: The Philippine Tattoo Revival" published on www.vanishingtattoo.com.
Mitra's bandmates, hailing from Cebu, Samar, and Leyte also have tattoos on their bodies that mark their roots and honor their band's name "Kadangyan" that means "rich in culture".
Rhasamaya, their bassist from Cebu, reportedly bears the markings of the "Pintados", a term stemming from the Spanish conquistadors who landed in Cebu, saw its tattooed inhabitants, and dubbed the island "Islas de los Pintados."
The band even made a song about it.
Vanishing tattoos
Mitra noted, however, that the Cordillera tattoo culture is slowly dying off, if not already extinct.
"Wala na talaga. Kasi isipin mo, 10 years from now, yung mga 95 years old na tattoo artist dun, [tatagal pa ba?] (It's vanishing already. Think about it, 10 years from now, will 95-year-old tattoo artists still be here?)," he said.
The singer also said that many younger Cordillerans have no interest in training under tattoo masters or learning the native tattoo traditions of their area - a fact mentioned in Krutak's work.
"Wala nang interesado ngayon, kasi moderno na lahat. Lahat gusto maging attorney, lahat gustong maging mayor. Lahat ang tingin, masagwa ang isang attorney na maraming tattoo sa katawan. Ang tingin sa'yo punk o siguro artist lang. Ang tingin ng tao hindi puwede sa excecutive na trabaho," Mitra explained.
(No one is interested now because everything's modern. Everyone wants to be an attorney, everyone wants to be a mayor. Everyone thinks it's not proper for an attorney to have tattoos on his or her body. They think you are a punk, an artist, or that you aren't right for an executive position.)
As Krutak's study notes, there have been some movements to preserve FIlipino tattoo culture, like the Tatak ng Apat na Alon Tribe, founded by a group of Filipino-Americans in 1998.
Revivals?
Mitra says modern tattoos somehow continue traditional Filipino tattoo culture in some ways.
He said recent tattoo movements opened up the minds of Filipinos to embrace tattoos as meaningful markings and less as symbols of vagrancy.
Some tattoo artists in the Philippine Tattoo Artists Guild (PHILTAG) still practice "hantab", a tattoo tradition common in the Southeast Asian peninsula that uses plant thorns, natural pigments, and animal bones as tools.
Ricky Sta. Ana, a Fil-Chinese and the President of PHILTAG, stays true to his Chinese roots with trademark oriental designs like dragons, phoenixes, koi fishes, and other "Yakuza-style" tattoos.
On the Filipino side, he makes patterns, elemental symbols, and "alibata" characters.
Lee Albon, a British tattoo artist and PHILTAG member, who is interested in traditional tattooing in the Philippines thinks that Filipino tattoo culture is still alive, albeit in modern ways.
"It may be dying [in some areas], but the idea of tattooing, even in the modern way with a gun. I think the Philippine tattoo culture is growing, it's getting stronger," he said in an interview.
Sta. Ana is particularly interested in reviving Filipino tattoo art.
"We will have unique Filipino designs if we revive traditional tattoos. If that returns, it's better for the tattoo community, it will help make the Philippines known," he said.
Modern meanings
Philippine tattoo designs may have changed, but one thing sticks: that the ink should hold some sort of meaning.
As Sta. Ana puts it: "Dito mo maipapakita 'yong hindi mo masabi. Sa tattoo mo lang mapapakita. So may spiritwal, may rebellion, love, hate, lahat ng klaseng emosyon, napapakita sa tattoo."
(Through tattoos, you can show what you can't say. The things you can only show through tattoos. So there are spiritual [meanings], rebellion, love, hate - all kinds of emotions you can show through tattoos.)
Albon honors his friends and family through portrait tattoos and by allowing his Filipino friends to put their "signature" tattoos on him.
While tattoos should preferably hold some emotional meaning for the wearer, some people still get inked just for the heck of it.
A Singaporean tattoo artist named Eric, who attended the "Dutdutan 2009", said his body tattoos "mean nothing" to him. "I just like the art," he said.
The only tattoo on his body that holds special meaning for him is a dog tattoo on his calf, in memory of his dead pet.
Albon said he comes across customers with this attitude once in a while. "It's basically something [they] want. There's no rebellious act. [They] want to get into this kind of atmosphere with these people."
"Of all the jobs I've had in my life, tattooing has been the most enjoyable because the people - no matter where you come from, no matter what walk of life - you're accepted. And it doesn't matter what color my skin is, 'cause it's red, it's yellow, it's blue. It's the same as theirs," he added.
Mitra cautions younger people who want tattoos to think long and hard first about why they want to "get inked."
"You might regret it," he said in Filipino.
Body art may have varied meanings then and today, but for Albon, Sta. Ana, and Mitra, tattoos are definitely inks that bond them to culture, country, and community.
