Body art

This exhibition explored different ways, both temporary and permanent, in which people modify, change, decorate and adorn their bodies. It covers the what, why, how and where of 'body art'.

Updated

11/06/21

This exhibition from 2000 and reprised in 2002 explored the many forms of body art and modification across history and cultures. The exhibition was divided into four main themes exploring Tattooing, Painting, Shaping and Scarring.

Tattooing

Tattooing - Earliest examples

Tattooed markings on skin and incised markings in clay provide some of the earliest evidence that humans have long practised a wide range of body art.

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Two warriors standing showing their complete puhoro

The Meaning of Ta Moko - Maori Tattooing

Ta Moko was like a history of a person's achievements and represented their status in their tribe.

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The Meaning of Ta Tau - Samoan Tattoing

The word tatau (tattoo) in Samoan means appropriate, balanced and fitting.

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Shaping

Corsetry - Shaping the waist

The shaping of the waist, through belting, corseting, girdling or hiding its natural curve, has long held universal interest. What is considered an acceptable shape for the torso is intimately tied up with cultural aesthetics, discipline and social status.

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Headshaping

Headshaping or binding was practised by a number of cultures and usually involved binding the forehead area of babies for a number of months till the desired shape was attained.

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Footbinding

Chinese folklore attributes the origins of footbinding to a fox who tried to conceal its paws while assuming the human guise of the Shang Empress. Another version suggests that the Empress had a club foot and insisted that all women bind their feet so that hers became the model for beauty.

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Cosmetic surgery

Cosmetic surgery is a type of plastic surgery which changes the normal physical features people are born with. Plastic surgery also includes medical reconstructive surgery which repairs physical damage to the body or genetic abnormalities.

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Scarring

Aboriginal Scarification

In Australia, scarring was practised widely, but is now restricted almost entirely to parts of Arnhem Land. Scarring is like a language inscribed on the body, where each deliberately placed scar tells a story of pain, endurance, identity, status, beauty, courage, sorrow or grief.

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Papua New Guinea Scarification

In Papua New Guinea, scarification is usually related to initiation. In the middle Sepik region, it is believed that migrating ancestral crocodiles established human populations.

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Contemporary branding and cutting

The process of scarification involves an endurance of pain. This endurance often signifies a rite of passage and is a ritual which is itself highly significant.

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Painting

Paint up - Aboriginal Dance

Many Aboriginal communities have been painting their bodies for thousands of years. For these communities, body painting is not necessarily just about visual artistic creativity, it relates to conventions, laws and religion.

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Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras

The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras is an annual event centred around a street parade of up to 20,000 participants. Participants hide or reveal their 'true' identities in a flurry of paint, feathers and glitter.

Group of Hagen women wear an elaborate headdress

Mt Hagen - Papua New Guinea Festival

In the Highlands of Papua New Guinea, self-decoration is associated with festivals and ceremonies where people reinforce their identity as members of a group or clan. One of the most important occasions for ceremonial display is the Mount Hagen Festival.

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Henna

Henna is a dye made from a flowering plant, Lawsonia inermis, to dye skin, hair and fingernails. It has been used for thousands of years across many cultures as an important part of ceremonys and rituals.

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