Body Art

A bride’s nose piercing on her wedding day, soldiers comparing their flash tattoos in the 1940s, face painting at a sporting match, a Yamatji woman’s tattoo of the spirit of all Aboriginal women … the meanings behind body art are as varied as the individuals who wear them. Body adornments and modifications are rarely applied without a story for the wearer and even more rarely do they go without eliciting a response. Documenting an array of contemporary and historical forms of altered bodies from Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific in a collection of powerful images, this NLA publication sheds light on some of the more surprising parts of the collections at the National Library of Australia. Take a closer look at Body Art.