Tattooíng and body modification in general have to be also considered in relation to the issue of intangible heritage. There are many cultures of the world which had a rich tradítion in tattooing and because of direct or indirect Western influence they have lost this tradition or it is in the process of extinction. More and more, the body does not reflect any more particular worldviews of particular cultures or societies but uniformized attitudes coming from dominant paradigms. We know that globalization is changing our world and according to this, globalization is also changing the relationship people have with their own bodies. In this artide I will focus on two very concrete cases: the Li people in Hainan, in China, and the example of the population in Equatorial Guinea, in west central Africa.

Peer reviewed