For centuries the people of the mountains decorated their bodies with stories of victories and prayer. Through traditional ceremony and hours of painful taps, the Mambatok was the historian of their tribe. With the days of head hunting and war lone passed, this tradition of story telling through permanent markings began to fade and the Mambatok was no longer needed. Over last century Apo Whang-Od has kept the tradition alive and has passed it on to her family to carry this tradition of hand tapping tattoos. The technique had been handed down but the ceremonies would stay with Whang-Od, with the last.

This work was originally going to be part of "The Enemy" collection on opensea.

The winning bidder will be given a 6 hour slot for a traditional hand tapped tattoo session with Grace Palicas (Whang-Od's niece) or TanTan Arapefo. Both artists are located in the Philippines and are not responsible for your travel.