Art, Music, and Sport - Body Art

Art, Music, and Sport ANTH 2301 Body Art In many cultures across the world, body art is a fundamental form of expression. Every civilization alters and embellishes the human body in some kind, whether it be permanently or just briefly. Body art may be interpreted within anthropological frameworks as a kind of visual art as well as a cultural practice. For thousands of years, people have used tattoos as a kind of body art. The word "tattoo" is Polynesian. To define their identities, personalities, and social standing, Polynesian tribes and individuals employed tattoos. In the past, tattoos have been utilised by the Maori, an Indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand, to signify their identity and cultural allegiance. Examples of this may also be seen in the warrior cultures of Tonga and Samoa, where a warrior's membership in a particular elite warrior group was indicated by the location and style of tattoos on their bodies. American sailors began using tattoos to express their organisational allegiance, personal interests, and identity around the middle of the 20th century. These tattoos might feature images of the unit mascot, travel destinations, or objects that the person finds beautiful. Evidently, as early as 5,300–3,000 years ago, people modified their bodies by adding marks to them (Deter-Wolf et al. 2016; Shishlina, Belkevich, and Usachuk 2013). Some of these same cultures—like the Maori people —continue to use similar markers today. The earliest known person with tattoos is Ötzi, a naturally mummified guy discovered in the Ötzal Alps whose death has been dated to around 3250 BCE. His torso was covered with tattoos of crosses and lines. They are said to have been produced by making skin incisions and applying charcoal to the wounds. People can use tattoos as a means of expressing their affiliation with a greater group. Communities are not simply created around body art; some people get tattoos as a way to identify with a particular group (for example, a cross tattoo, which is a sign of Christianity). In recent years, tattoos have been popular for a variety of reasons, including as marking the passing of a loved one, expressing artistic preferences, illustrating personal histories, expressing sentiments or emotions, and denoting defiance (Dey and Das 2017). The practice of scarification is a modified version of the traditional tattoo. The process of branding, burning, or etching patterns into the flesh is known as scarification. Scarification markings are frequently used to identify members of different groups or subcultures. The practice may also be used to symbolise the development of an individual, a community, or a subset of a society. Since ancient times, makeup has been used as a visual artistic medium. It serves to accentuate attractiveness, conceal imperfections, and uphold societal standards for what constitutes and ought to be beautiful. Success and riches are frequently defined by societal factors. Many of the same purposes lead people to wear piercings, which are present in the oldest African mummies. They might be interpreted as a way to convey one's uniqueness, identity, or affinity. Painting one's body is another kind of body art. Some tribes paint only the face on their bodies, while others paint their whole body. Indigenous Australian peoples paint their entire bodies as a regular practice (Figure 16.9). This kind of body art serves announcements of social standing and achievements as well as subcultural identity, among other goals. The painting may be made using several kinds of paints and stains to make it temporary or semipermanent. In certain cultures, body painting adheres to set patterns and styles, while in others it is self-motivated. Certain designs may disclose a person's social standing, tribal identification, familial standing, group affiliation, and even exact ancestry (Layton 1989). Another type of body painting is henna art. Crushed, ground, and sieved henna leaves are used to make henna paint. It is painted directly onto the skin in complex patterns that, when removed, leave behind an orange or crimson stain. Many civilizations in North Africa, Somalia, Southeast Asia, and the Indian subcontinent utilise henna body art to decorate young women's hands and occasionally their feet for religious events like Eid al-Fitr and marriages (Chairunnisa and Solihat 2019). Women express their ethnic, family, and religious ties with henna during weddings. In addition, it serves as a symbol of the bride's beauty and the standing of the families she is leaving behind and entering into marriage. A prominent cultural practice in communities all around the world is hair grooming. A person's hairstyle or presentation can represent a variety of meanings, such as race, religious sect membership, and conformity to popular culture trends. Additionally, hair has been used as a social status indication. From an evolutionary standpoint, having hair—both quantity and quality—indicates robustness and has aided in group identification and mate selection. In many different cultures and eras, hairstyles, hair volume, and hair coverings have all been seen as artistic representations of people's lived experiences and have contributed to cultural identity. Some traditional Muslim societies cover their hair with headscarves known as hijabs. An iconic image of humility, it has come to symbolise Middle Eastern customs and culture. In the civilizations of Africa and the African diaspora, hairstyles are very important. In ancient African societies, hair was symbolic of a person's spirituality, marital status, social standing, tribe affiliation, and family history. Hair-grooming activities are frequently social affairs, especially those that require a lot of time, like having one's hair braided.