Botha Kimmikimmi (Hirokiki) Papua New Guinean, Omie, b. 1941
Botha Kimmikimmi (Hirokiki) Papua New Guinean, Omie, b. 1941
Dahoru’e, tuböre une, buboriano’e, ohu’o sabu ahe, 2014
natural pigments on nioge (barkcloth)
134 x 46 cm
14-123
The lines that run through the work are known as orriseegé or ‘pathways’ and provide a compositional framework for the design. The large zig-zagging diamonds are dahoru’e, the design of...
The lines that run through the work are known as orriseegé or ‘pathways’ and provide a compositional framework for the design.
The large zig-zagging diamonds are dahoru’e, the design of the Ömie mountains.
The rows of small black triangles like sawtooths at their edges are buborianö’e, the beaks of the Papuan Hornbill (Rhyticeros plicatus). In one version of the story of how the first Ömie Ancestors emerged onto the surface of the earth from Awai’i underground cave at Vavago, a man used his hornbill beak forehead adornment as a tool to chisel his way through the rock and into the light of the world.
The cross-hatch design is tuböru une, the design of the egg of the Dwarf Cassowary (Casuarius bennetti). Cassowary eggs are an important seasonal food source for Ömie people.
The spots within the orriseegé and dahoru’e are a design called sabu ahe representing the spots which can be seen on the sides of a wood-boring grub. This grub is sacred to Ömie people as it plays an important part within the creation story of how Huvaimo (Mount Lamington) came to be volcanic. It is a traditional soru’e (tattoo design) which was most commonly tattooed running in one line under both eyes. Today it is applied to Ömie people’s faces for dance performances with natural pigments.
The large zig-zagging diamonds are dahoru’e, the design of the Ömie mountains.
The rows of small black triangles like sawtooths at their edges are buborianö’e, the beaks of the Papuan Hornbill (Rhyticeros plicatus). In one version of the story of how the first Ömie Ancestors emerged onto the surface of the earth from Awai’i underground cave at Vavago, a man used his hornbill beak forehead adornment as a tool to chisel his way through the rock and into the light of the world.
The cross-hatch design is tuböru une, the design of the egg of the Dwarf Cassowary (Casuarius bennetti). Cassowary eggs are an important seasonal food source for Ömie people.
The spots within the orriseegé and dahoru’e are a design called sabu ahe representing the spots which can be seen on the sides of a wood-boring grub. This grub is sacred to Ömie people as it plays an important part within the creation story of how Huvaimo (Mount Lamington) came to be volcanic. It is a traditional soru’e (tattoo design) which was most commonly tattooed running in one line under both eyes. Today it is applied to Ömie people’s faces for dance performances with natural pigments.