As body art practices have moved further into the mainstream in Western culture, more historical societies and museums have taken a look at this topic. No longer practices isolated to the past or to distant cultures, these exhibitions span from the ancient to the modern, from faraway tribal groups to contemporary cities. And now you can see some of these exhibits without even leaving your computer desktop.

The American Museum of Natural History presents Body Art: Marks of Identity

" Body Art: Marks of Identity examines a wide range of practices in the following sections of the exhibition: Introduction, Origins, Representations, Transformations, Identities, Distinctions, and Reinvention."

Originally staged from November 1999 through May 2000, the AMNH still maintains an online representation of this show. Examples of ancient pottery and art depicting body ornamentation highlight and illustration the educational and historical text. Although the virtual tour of the show is no longer online, there are still many pages containing exhibition highlights, a glossary of body art terms and a photo gallery. There is also a comprehensive listing of resources which were used in compiling and staging the show which is extremely useful for students and academics working on body art projects and research.

The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology offers Bodies of Culture: A World Tour of Body Modification

"Body modification and what it means is personal and cultural.
What does it mean to you?"

Drawing from the museums comprehensive historical catalog, this online exhibit details tattooing, piercing and body painting. Many of the galleries feature examples drawn from ancient historical references, some of which date back as far as 9th Century B.C. (ancient Egypt). Part of the online exhibit is interactive, allowing site visitors to comment and answer body art questions in a modern context. The museum moderates and includes those comments on pages which can be read by future site visitors.

The Australian Museum has one of the broadest and most modern online exhibits about Body Art

"It covers the what, why, how and where of 'body art'. Who does it, how do they do it and why do they do it? Themes covered include: universality, diversity and antiquity of styles; concepts of beauty; identity and transformation; meaning and significance of symbols; and pain, endurance and rites of passage."

This online exhibition has categories for body painting, piercing, scarring, tattooing and body shaping. Examples include span time and cultures, offering examples of aboriginal body painting, Chinese foot binding, ancient African scarification, postmodern body piercing, Maori tattooing and modern cosmetic surgery. Full-color photography accompanies most of the examples.