1. Body Art
A study of the changing interpretations of body art across seven world regions

2. The Seven Regions Studied
The Middle East
Southeast Asia
Oceania
Europe
North America
Africa
South Asia

3. Patterns throughout the different regions:
Tattoos
Body piercings
Body scarification
Body painting

4. “Every known culture has pursued some kind of body ornamentation, it’s a form of symbolic expression, like art and music.” -Enid Schildkrout

5. The difference is in the style.
Every region studied has one thing in common: they all use their bodies as some sort of art form.
The difference is in the style.

6. An art practiced by commonly in Southeast Asia and the Middle East is the art of Henna or, Mehndi

7. Originated in Catal Hoyuk
7th millennium BC
Brought by Neolithic people who used it in connection to their goddess of fertility

9. A type of tattooing indigenous to the Maori tribe of New Zealand is “Moko”

10. Moko’s are a sign of power and strength
Often accentuate facial features like eyes, cheeks, nose, and lips

11. Most European and North American body art tends to be a collaboration of piercings and tattoos derived from other cultural traditions

13. ...And some of it seems to have no origin at all

14. Two countries to not be as imprinted with tattooing:
Australia
Africa

15. Darker skin makes tattoos less effective and dramatic
Resort to strange body piercing instead

16. Women of Surma tribe in Africa are adorned with lower lip piercings
Their worth is measured by the size of the plate in their lip
It’s a sign of beauty

17. In Thailand beauty is symbolized differently from any of the other studied regions

18. Young women and girls wear neck coils as a sign of beauty and grace

19. Contrary to belief, coils do not actually elongate the neck, but rather put pressure on the clavicle causing it to sit lower

20. Interpretations of beauty and body art change across regions

21. “Every known culture has pursued some kind of body ornamentation, it’s a form of symbolic expression, like art and music.” -Enid Schildkrout