Body painting is the oldest art form that is growing in popularity today. Taking the human body as the canvas, artists express their artistic talent with dots, swirls and lines of paint. They create images drawn from tribal art, the natural world, or their imagination.
While other types of body art like tattoos are meant to last a lifetime, body painting is a temporary art form, which usually lasts just for a few hours. If henna is used, it can last for a couple of weeks.
Humans, in fact, have been painting their bodies with natural dyes, paints, pigments, tattoos, ash and clay since prehistoric times. These markings made on their bodies were thought to have magical powers with which they could ward off evil spirits or tribal enemies. They also used it to celebrate auspicious occasions. This practice can still be seen in the indigenous populations of New Zealand, Australia, the Pacific islands, and certain parts of Africa.
Clowns and actors all over the world have been painting their faces, and sometimes even their bodies, for many centuries, which continues even today. It is speculated that the cosmetics in use today has evolved from more subdued forms of face painting.
With the liberalization of thought and wider acceptance of public expression of cultural freedom, especially regarding nudity, in the 1960s, body painting as an art form has witnessed a revival in the West. However, there is still debate today about whether body painting is truly an art form, although its practitioners and followers have no doubt about it being so. This is quite apparent not only in the proliferation of body painting parlors and body painting artists, but also the body painting festivals held regularly in the United States and Europe.
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