Batok as a Cultural Practice is a 24-page zine for those curious about exploring their own Batok Ceremony or even considering the path of becoming a practitioner themselves. It is also a preview of a larger book project that expands on these themes and stories.

On the cover is a work-in-progress tattoo, symbolizing this work-in-progress larger book project. This isn't an encyclopedic history of Philippine tattooing, nor is it a pattern guide. After more than a decade immersed in pre-Philippine scripts and Batok, learning directly from Lane Wilcken as an apprentice and now continuing as a practitioner, I've realized what's missing isn't more historical "proof." What's missing are honest conversations about how to revive nearly extinct cultural practices in today's world.

Part autobiography, part storytelling, Batok as a Cultural Practice explores my path as a disconnected Filipino-American navigating cultural authenticity and responsibility. It's written for members of the diaspora who feel that familiar ache of distance, for those considering traditional tattoos, for potential practitioners, and for anyone curious about the complicated realities of cultural revival.

This zine will not provide "correct" patterns or definitive answers. If you're searching for certainty, you won't find it here. Instead, it offers a framework for reflection, an invitation to begin your own journey into the messy, contradictory, and deeply rewarding work of cultural reclamation. Part of that revival includes receiving these tattoos and assisting in ceremonies and, for some, taking on the responsibility of giving them.

If you're ready to sit with the questions and contradictions, this is where the conversation begins.

Written by Kristian Kabuay
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24 pages
6"x9"