Sebe, Hana Juniela N.

GEARTAP C33
March 9, 2020

Art and the Body & Art, tradition/heritage, and community/nation

The body is considered to be a delicate medium for art. The most common forms

of body art in today’s time are tattoos and body piercing. People get body arts for

numerous reasons like artistic freedom, cultural/spiritual traditions, visual display, and

more. Even during the ancient ages, human body has been the center of art.

The group presented different forms of art. First, they showed body art in the

form of tattoo. They showed Whang-od, the tattoo artist from Kalinga known as the

oldest mambabatok. The pambabatok is a traditional method of tattooing in the

Cordillera Region. It is done by hand-tapping the ink into the skin using a thorn attached

to a stick. The tattoo designs are based on nature like the sun, stars, ferns, rice

bundles, centipedes, and alike. Locals and foreigners travel to Kalinga just to get a

tattoo from Whang-od. Second, they showed nude art. The infamous Venus of Urbino

was shown. It brought up a discussion in class on why women were always portrayed in

art in the past. It was because women were objectified, and patriarchy was imminent.

Human body in art was changed and improved overtime. Before it was mostly

women’s body which serves as the medium and focus of the art object. Now, women

have a say in the art community. They are the artists themselves. Culture also plays a

role in art. As mentioned above, it is a tradition for the tribes in the Cordillera region to
have a tattoo as a form of hierarchy for men and beauty for women. In contemporary

art, the body is now used as a form of artistic freedom.

Art is the reflection of culture and tradition. It also influences society by instilling

values and changing opinions. Art serves as a way of communication in the sense that it

allows people to communicate via images and sounds. Art is also integral in nation

building as it connects with culture which can relate to nationalism.

The group got a resource speaker which focuses on music. He showed us the

history of music from baroque period to contemporary. He showed that during the 16 th

century, women did not have a part in music. Boys were castrated in order to have a

high pitch voice similar to women. Fortunately, as time progresses, women now have

the power to create and perform music. In the country, music is used to express love

like harana. Since the Philippines is a Catholic country which is also conservative,

musicians have to hide meanings in their songs. Although the group mostly focused on

music rather than art, I still learned a lot from them.

Art binds people together. Physically it binds us through galleries and museum. It

also binds us culturally as it tells the community’s shared story. It opens cultural borders

and helps us to get to know one another. I believe that art can overcome cultural and

ethnic differences since art acts as the universal language. Art can also spark a

movement that can help in solving a nation’s issue just like what Jose Rizal did. This is

why art can bring people together for a better cause.