Who is Apo Whang-Od? All about the oldest Vogue cover model 

106-year-old tattoo artist Apo Whang-Od has been trending online after being featured on the cover of the April issue of Vogue Philippines. Editor-in-chief for the magazine Bea Valdes revealed that it was a unanimous decision and the reason for the same was because she represented everything beautiful in Filipino culture. Valdes added that the concept of beauty must evolve and should be of different forms.

Apo's picture was clicked by photographer Artu Nepomuceno, who expressed his happiness on Instagram with the response he received after the release of Vogue Philippines' April issue.

The magazine also shared a post on Twitter which stated:

"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 & beauty of the skin."

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Apo Whang-Od is well-known for her hand-taped tattoos

Also known as Maria Oggay, she has gained recognition for using a very old tattoo technique called batok. This style requires one to use a bamboo stick with a thorn at the end, water, and coal.

Apo Whang-Od started learning tattooing at a very young age (Image via apowhangod/Instagram)

As per Vogue, Apo Whang-Od started her career as a tattoo artist at the age of 16 and was guided by her father. She has traveled to several villages and imprinted sacred symbols of ancestors for different communities. Her clients mostly include women and the April issue of Vogue Philippines mentioned:

"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."

Her grand-nieces Elyang Wigan and Grace Palicas have been trained under her mentorship so the craft will never be forgotten. In an interview with CNN Travel in 2017, Oggay said that her friends who were tattoo artists passed away a long time ago and that the tradition will continue if people keep coming to get tattoos.

Vogue stated that Apo Whang-Od has been an inspiration for the artists of the current generation to practice batok in the Philippines and the United States. She is avoiding intricate tattoos for now but adds her "signature three dots" to her work once it is finished.

Batok art is an important part of the artist's life as according to her Instagram account, she is the "last mambabatok of Kalinga." A mambabatok is a professional Kalinga tattoo artist. Batok is a way by which members of the Kalinga tribe speak about their life and everything that they have learned from their ancestors. They believe that tattoos can protect them from evil spirits and that the markings follow them to the afterlife.