Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Light, Smoke & Adornment



photograph from Masao Yamamoto


photograph from Bea De Giacomo



from Natural Fashion: Tribal Decoration from Africa


10 Beautiful girl of Taroko Savage, Formosa :::: photo from east asia image collection

According to Masegseg Jingror: ""Tattoo marking is a common practice among the...Atayal. For women, having tattoo marks on one's face and body means three things: First, it is a symbol of reaching maturity. Second, it indicates that she is a person capable [of] weaving. And finally but not the least, when they pass away they can recognize the spirits of their ancestors in heaven through the design of the tattoo marks. Besides, tattoo marks were believed to have magical power which enabled them to avoid evil forces. But more importantly, tattoos are marks of their identity indicating to which tribe they belong"" (Tung 1996, p. 152)

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