Scarification

In session at uni today we looked at the act of scarring oneself and tried to replicate it on our skin using rice, popping corn and latex! The effects were stunning!

I can't find my images of what I created :/ I'm a little worried! I may need to redo them on myself to show you properly how awesome it looked!

After watching this on National Geographic's YouTube channel:

...I was completely hypnotised by the easy slicing of the skin, the way in which the practitioner made perfect scores into it, all of them the perfect length and distance from each other.

It inspired me to try this.

I used a similar pattern to the one that Benin had cut into his skin in the video. I used the red to show the blood, and added the white and black to make it look as though it was truly a cut into the skin. Of course it was more for impression, for artistic licence than for realism.

I like how it came out. Because I used aqua colour and an angled brush, the original red lines were neat and sharp. The white and black I added, however, were deliberately less so, to keep the hand-crafted, finger painted style that one would associated with "tribalism"

"Skin Shows III"

Some photos from "Skin Shows III", a tattoo archive of sorts, by Chris Wroblewski.

Flicking through I took poor photos on my phone (sorry about that) of all the tattoos that had a "Tribal" quality to them! Some of them are amazing! 

I love the use of bold black in all of them! The solidity and intensity is gorgeous! I love that in this one there is a face etched with the twisting shapes!

Looking at it at first, I thought that it looked almost oriental with the curves it used, but now really brings to mind a maori warrior like the one I showed here :).

I don't know if this one can count as 'Tribal' really. For some reason, I feel that the Native American history that has clearly inspired this woman's tattoo is more of a culture of a people rather than lone tribes people.

I don't know if thats a fair comment. I need to look further into it!

Now this one, is most definitely not a tribal tattoo in its design. However, its ETHOS to me is what makes it tribal. The idea that one can cover oneself with a bold pattern and clear display of self like this, is what links this man to the hundreds of thousands of tribesmen who have decorated themselves over the centuries!

It's simplicity lends to that! 

Tattooing the Mouth

The more I look into the idea of tattooing the mouth, the more I find it deserves it's own post away from  other 'Tribal' tattoos.

Teeth Lacquering

While not a tattoo per se, it is a long-lasting body modification, just like the art work on the rest of the body. I came across this image in Catherine Legrand's 'Textiles: A World Tour'. It is of a woman of the White Trouser Yao tribe in the Viet Quang, Vietnam. I'll put in her description of the process because its so frickin interesting!!

Teeth Lacquering on a Yao woman, from 'Textiles: A World Tour'

I make the dye by crushing ants wings in lemon juice and letting the mixture steep for seven days... I do it at night and repeat the process at least five timesm until my teeth are really black. In the meantime, I just drink, no eating. I do the whole thing again every year. The dye stops your teeth decaying

In the book it talks about other mountain tribes in the Viet Quang who practice similar techniques. On further investigation, I found this article that says that 'it was believed that only savages, wild animals and the demons of the underworld had long white teeth'. For this reason, it was common for children across Asia to have their teeth filed down or painted as they hit puberty. 

Holi Festival

So as I showed you the ANTM Holi Festival style shoot, I HAVE to show you some of these STUNNING images of the Festival itself!

The Images from the other blog post are here for your perusal ^^ 

Preparing for an assault -  Holi Festival from BigPicture.in

PS... LOOK AT THE LINK UNDER THIS PHOTO!! SUCH AMAZING PHOTOGRAPHS!!

Holi Festival is a major holiday on the Hindi Calendar. On the full moon of our month of march, their Phalgun, they celebrate the coming of spring by throwing coloured powders and waters over one another and intoxicating themselves with rich foods and the inebriating Bhang drink. The streets are a riot of colour and joy as NO ONE works and only the truly dour refuse to join in!

IT'S DIVINE! British culture should celebrate things like this!

Prepared to do colourful battle! from indovacations.net 

The 'Holi Guys' celebrating from TheCampusCompanion.com

This is where it gets intense! From Exploration-Online.co.uk

The two day festival (for the most part) breaks down all the conventional societal boundaries. While the celebrations last, rich and poor men, women and children revel in the festivities and each others company.

Tattooing In the Tribal World

It's hard to know where to start looking for inspiration on "Tribal" tattooing, without becoming overwhelmed at the seemingly infinite number of designs. Thousands of different clans of people use them to show thousands of different messages.

 For religion, to respect the dead, to show age, for protection against evil, to take power from animals, and many more reasons, people have permanently decorated their bodies with unique patterns and shapes.

The Kayapo

Looking at the Kayapo/Kaiapo people again, I saw it mentioned that "After an attack on an enemy village, the chest of the warriors must be tattooed and scraped with the purpose of eliminating the superfluous ‘bad’ and thus dangerous blood".

HOW INTERESTING!!!!! They tattooed themselves while scraping the skin to rid themselves of bad blood from battle!!

That said, I did find this image (admittedly from Tumblr) which showed a young male tattooed...

A Young Kaiapo male, tattoed on his face and torso, from www.tumblr.com

I think it's interesting that he has markings in the same place as the male in the other post... wait... I'll just show you again:

 There must be a significant meaning to painting on the cheeks, shaving the centre of the head, and the red paint used on the eyes and forehead. All three share one or more of these characteristics. The Kayapo are a large group of tribes. I can't see anything to say that all three are form the same tribe. Perhaps it is that they have "trends" as we do... that these stylings are in fashion?!?! Hmmm...

The Moari

A Maori Warrior, taken from EnvironmentalGraffiti.com

The Ta Moko tattooing methods used by Maori tribes in New Zealand are STUNNING! Because of the way that the ink is carved rather than punctured into their sun-darkened skin, the tattoos give the effect of embossing on leather. As though their skin was formed that way. IT'S ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!!! Imagine the feel of that under your fingers.

The description from EnvironmentalGraffiti that accompanied this image (->) 

says that "Persons of high social status would receive moko in a prominent place like the face so that their special status was immediately recognisable". So it's almost their uniform!!

Also, it explains that the tattoos are also used as part of the transition to adulthood as they are with so many other tribes around the world. 

Vogue Germany July 2010

Jacquelyn Jablonski by Sebastian Kim for Vogue Germany

Make Up Collections

When I first got 'into' make up, my first (and current) love was absolutely MAC! Obviously!!! The year I first bought products from them, they launched one of their 'Fall 2009' collections...

STYLE WARRIOR

Press image for Make Up Art Cosmetics Style Warrior collection, taken from Temptalia

While I love this for nostalgia reasons, who can not love it for its GORGEOUSNESS! The yellow is so vibrant on that models skin!! The accessories and everything sing tribalism, without losing any of the modern quirk!!! THAT MAKE UP!!! OH LORD!!! Stunning!!

Product shot from the collection by MAC taken from Beautiful Make Up Search

SIDE NOTE: how cool is it that they took the package design and made it into an earring for the model? Ingenious! 

There is a definite colour palette for this collection. Browns, soft pinks and golden hues. They also took two key bright colours, yellow and purple and carried them through the range. 

KEY: Decide on one or two colours to compliment the earthy tones of 'Tribalism' and make them BRIGHT. 

There is also a sunkissed look to a lot of the products, a sheen or shimmer. The blushes, however, are matte. DON"T OVER DO IT ON SHIMMER!

The Mongolian Shaman

While I'm not sure if these nomadic Shaman would necessarily count as "tribesmen", their use of fabrics and beads in their dress is TOO gorgeous to ignore.

They, to this day, have a very un-westernised look and appear very true to their roots:

A Shaman on a cliff of the 'Sacred Isle' 

Shaman man drumming in Mongolia from website sited

Their use of ribbons of bright materials to decorate their simply tunic clothing is stunning! Also the headresses... GORGEOUS!!! A lot to think about here for my look.

In the Movies...

THE FIRST THING THAT CAME INTO MY HEAD... THE 1990 EPIC... 

JOE VERSUS VOLCANO!!!!

While the Waponis of Waponi Woo Island in the South Pacific are a completely fictional tribe, they win top marks for awesomeness!!! Addicted to orange soda, and devoted to the god of their volcano, they are a complete mish mash of different tribal cultures, an outlandish view of the natives of the South Pacific Islands, and a huge dose of fiction. They are crazy and utterly delicious!!!

The Chief of the Waponis, from Joe Versus Volcano, 1990

Nathan Lane as a Waponi

It has been hard to find any good stills from this film to show the amazingly outrageous design of the tribesmen, but if you have seen it, you'll KNOW just how crazy they are!! SO colourful and vibrant, each one bedecked with orange soda cans, leaves and feathers!! They are masterpieces of design!! I shall endeavour to prove it to you!!!

COULD I USE MY LOOK TO MAKE A STATEMENT ON CONSUMERISM AND THE SPOILS OF WESTERN CULTURE?!?!?! THE WAPONI'S ADDICTION TO ORANGE SODA IS AN INGENIOUS IDEA!!!

The World's Tribes...

So let's dive into the culture of the hundreds of the world's tribes, current and past...

The Kayapo

The Kayapos are one of the many Brazilian tribes which still exist in the Xingu Corridor, an area that surrounds a tributary of the Amazon.

While still thriving, their life and the lives of others in under threat, thanks to the deforestation of the Amazonian Rainforest. They keep their culture strong, however, through their dress and celebration.

A Kayapo Woman, from anctientweb.org

Stunning jewellery and such a vibrant face paint. While the body and face are painted and she is wearing vibrant accessories, the look is simple and sharp. The shape created around the face by her hair line is so clean. LOVE IT!

The website www.ancientweb.org where I found this image, has a wealth of information on the cultures in the same Xingu Basin. JUST LOOK AT THIS INCREDIBLE PAINTING...

A male from the Kayapo Tribe, also from ancientweb.org

The hair, again, makes such a statement!! Something that would seem so brave and outlandish here, seems common place to the Kayapos. Clean cuts to the hair that alter the hairline seem a must. That jewellery is also stunning, yet again!

The Wodaabe

The Wodaabe are one of the most easily recognised African tribes, as all the tribesmen beautify themselves and dance competitively in 'beauty-pageants', in order to secure the best women. The following film clip is a trailer for Sandrine Loncke's 2010 film "Dance with the Wodaabes":

The Wodaabe men flip our idea of masculinity on it's head!!! IT'S AMAZING! And they look SO beautiful!!! I also love the way they play with their eyes while they dance to make them look wide and open! It's an odd effect, but captivating!!! JUST LOOK AT THEM!!!! (...)

They look stunning!!! From the individual markings each of them wears on their faces, to the hundreds of beads they were around their necks, these men are well put together!!! Everything is in the same colour scheme of earthy browns, reds, yellows and creams! It suits their skin tone and their environment so well!!!