The Barrier Breaker: Who is the 106-year-old from Philippines, who became Vogue's oldest-ever cover model?

Vogue has set the internet on fire and how! If you come across the April issue of Vogue Philippines, you will find Apo Whang-Od, a 106-year-old tattoo artist from the Philippines, gracing the cover of the fashion and lifestyle magazine.With this, the mambabatok, or traditional Kalinga tattoo artist, has become the oldest person ever to appear as Vogue’s cover model.Earlier this record was held by actress Judi Dench, who featured as the cover model for British Vogue in 2020, at the age of 85.Let’s take a closer look at the centenarian and her barrier-breaking life.Meet Vogue’s oldest cover modelWhang-Od, also known as Maria Oggay, is a celebrated Filipina artist, popular for her hand-tapping 1,000-year-old traditional tattoo technique – batok.

She makes these hand-tapped tattoos using a bamboo stick with a thorn attached on one end, water and coal.

Hailing from Buscalan, a mountain village about 15 hours north of Manila, in Kalinga province, she is considered the Philippines’ oldest and the last of her generation's mambabatok, reported CNN.Whang-Od learnt to create hand-tapping tattoos from her father at 16 years of age, as per Vogue Philippines.At the time, she was the only woman to practice batok as the artwork was reserved for the male members of her tribe, as per The National News. She is the first and only female mambabatok of her time.Sharing the April cover, Vogue Philippines wrote in a tweet on Thursday (30 March): “Apo Maria 'Whang-Od' Oggay symbolizes the strength and beauty of the Filipino spirit”."Heralded as the last mambabatok of her generation, she has imprinted the symbols of the Kalinga tribe — signifying strength bravery, and beauty — on the skin of thousands of people who have made the pilgrimage to Buscalan."According to a Yahoo Life article, it is believed that batok art form is a way for the Kalinga tribe to share stories and knowledge gained from their ancestors.The tribe considers that the tattoos offer protection from evil spirits and people believe the markings follow them to the afterlife, the article added.ALSO READ: Why female editors at the top 3 global business newspapers matterTraining the next tattoo masters

Being a mambabatok, Whang-Od can only pass down the art to her blood relatives.

She has been training her grandnieces Elyang Wigan and Grace Palicas for years to keep the craft alive."(My friends who gave tattoos) have all passed away," Whang-Od told CNN Travel in 2017."I'm the only one left alive that's still giving tattoos. But I'm not afraid that the tradition will end because (I'm training) the next tattoo masters.""The tradition will continue as long as people keep coming to get tattoos," the master tattoo artist said then.Whang-Od also said would pursue the art till she can “see well”. “I'll stop once my vision gets blurry."While she does not make intricate tattoos anymore, she signs off with three dots after her apprentices complete their work.Palicas and her cousin Elyang have now taken over the work tradition and their clientele includes hundreds of tourists that visit their village every day, as per The National News.“When visitors come from far away,” Whang-Od told the fashion magazine in her Butbut language, “I will give them the tatak Buscalan, tatak Kalinga for as long as my eyes can see"."The 106-year-old's signature three dots representing herself, Grace and Elyang are also ellipses, signifying an open-endedness and a continuation that extends beyond its origins," The National News reported citing Vogue Philippines.As per Vogue, Whang-Od has inspired a new generation of artists practising batok in the Philippines and the United States.Vogue Philippines editor-in-chief Bea Valdes said the decision to have Whang-Od as the cover model for this month’s magazine was unanimously taken by the staff, reported CNN. "We felt she represented our ideals of what is beautiful about our Filipino culture."We believe that the concept of beauty needs to evolve, and include diverse and inclusive faces and forms. What we hope to speak about is the beauty of humanity," Valdes added.Artu Nepomuceno, the photographer who took the iconic photo for the magazine, shared a message of gratitude on Instagram outlining the response he received for the cover, saying "the love is incredible and humbling.""We celebrate this month with beauty," he said in his post. "We celebrate the beauty of time, the beauty of family, the beauty of love, the beauty of our elders, and the beauty of being Filipino...Your celebration of this beautiful soul means more to me than I can ever grasp."With inputs from agenciesRead all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.