Автор: Придатченко Софья, 9в Руководитель: Чиркова Е. Ю., учитель английского языка

Bodyart is a kind of art made on, with, or consisting of, the human body. The most common forms of body art are tattoos. In our country it is new. And most people think that tattoos appeared recently. But frankly speaking it is not so. Our theme is “Bodyart: a fashion or an ancient tradition?” It is very actual because Bodyart is becoming very popular. And even children are interested in it. Nowadays you can often see them having painted faces on holidays. Not only children but grown ups too. So, our aim is to find out if Bodyart is modern fashion or an ancient tradition. The objectives are to apply to the history of Bodyart, compare tattooing and body painting of different cultures, learn why most of northern people had no skin drawings and show Bodyart as a positive phenomenon because now it is shown in a very negative way. Methods of the research are searching, description, questionnaires, comparison, and analysis. In our country Bodyart is new. And most people think that tattoos appeared recently. But frankly speaking it is not so. In Russia tattooing is considered to be a European culture. It was not European first. Europeans learnt about tattooing after having discovered Asia (India mainly), South America, Polynesia and Africa. Tattooing has been practiced for centuries in many cultures, mainly southern, and spread throughout the world. But most northern people had no tattoos, neither Russian nor Udmurt. British people also did not have it. India has developed very much over several years. But it is still a very religious country that follows many traditions. And one of them is painting arms, hands, legs, feet and even faces with henna. It is called mehndi. Mehndi showed people’s social status and the belonging to the certain cast. Mehndi isn’t only beauty but also the protection from furious spirits. Looking at amazing arms of Indian women we start thinking why Russian and Udmurt women never had it. Either Russian or Udmurt had very clean faces, arms, hands and feet. After having searched much information about it we made the following conclusion. In India mehndi is made of henna. Henna is produced from lawsonia. It grows only in hot and dry climate. And we have no this plant in our region. Also the smell of lawsonia frightens insects. In Russia most of the year is cold. Feet, hands and arms are closed. Another interesting fact is about African tribes. Why do they paint themselves with clay? You’ll never see it among Russian or Udmurt people. Of course, the first reason is spiritual. But the second one — clay also protects people from insects, mosquitoes and tse tse fly. Majority of modern tattoos came from Maori people. In New Zealand it is considered to be a real art. Maoris’ tattoos are sacred. They show courage and bravery. Russians and Udmurts showed their courageous skills in fighting and hunting. Such celebrities as Robbie Williams and Mike Tyson have Maori tattoos. It’s a tradition for Maori and a high fashion for some celebrities and other people. There are three types of tattooing: constant, temporary and washable. Maori people have constant tattoos. Indian mehndi is temporary. African clay is washable. But I would like to tell you about another form of washable tattoos. They are not real tattoos. They are just paintings on the body. There are many events and holidays where you can witness it. A lot of fans go to football matches having their faces colored. They draw the flags of their countries mainly. Sporting event is a kind of holiday, so, it’s one of the ways to impress good mood. As for masquerade, it’s also much cheaper to paint your face than to buy masks in shops. For global social actions people paint their faces to attract others’ attention because the purpose of these actions is to solve global serious problems such as helping to Africa and others. Having drawings on brides’ arms, shoulders, faces and hands is a modern fashion in European countries. It has nothing common with mehndi in Asia. More than that recently cosmetic tattoo art appeared. Lips tattooing is very popular among women nowadays. Tattooed lips are made in order not to use lipstick every day. Masquerade, global social actions, and even wedding drawings have no nationality. It’s global modern fashion. National characteristics can be seen in sport events only. We have questioned 60 people in our school. Most of them like drawing and most of them are positive about Bodyart. One of our objectives was to show Bodyart from positive point of view. Washable drawings do not damage skin; they are easy to work with. Painting faces and bodies make people fun and entertain with themselves. It is one of the ways to relief, show one’s individuality. It’s the ability to be free. It always attracts other people’s attention. Accept people having tattoos and loving Bodyart as they are. And you’ll feel better. Misunderstanding causes many social and psychological problems in the world.