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The oldest woman ever to be on a Vogue magazine cover is a Filipino tattoo artist

Temi Iwalaiye

March 31, 2023 11:57 AM

The 106-year-old Apo Whang-Od has a lot of achievements under her belt.

The oldest women on vogue magazine [Instagram/voguephillipines]

Apo is the oldest mambabatok still alive and the oldest person to ever grace a Vogue cover!

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Apo Whang-Od is seen on the cover image sitting gracefully while wearing Kalinga tribe's symbols. She is also one of the very few indigenous people to have appeared on the cover of Vogue.

She is also one of the last persons to practice Batok, the centuries-old tradition of indigenous tattooing. Although, she has passed the tradition to her grand-nice.

For the people of Apo's tribe, the practice of batok serves as a spiritual means of communicating stories that have been passed down from one generation to another. Tattoos also serve as a mark of identity and kinship.

It is thought that the drawings on their skin guard them against evil spirits and go with them to the afterlife. Tattoos have a similar purpose in Africa.

Since she was a teenager, Apo has been inking the histories of the Kalinga onto skin with the help of delicate tools which help the wearer to keep the past with them throughout life.