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Mionomehi Oriseegé (Ancestral Paths): Barkcloth from Omie

Past exhibition
18 August - 14 September 2016
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Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Fate Savari, Uborida jowo tahgwe ohu'o isairov'e hore hitahi'e (sabu deje, ije biweje, mi'ija'ahe ohu'o bub)

Fate Savari Papua New Guinea, Omie, b. c 1933 - 2019

Uborida jowo tahgwe ohu'o isairov'e hore hitahi'e (sabu deje, ije biweje, mi'ija'ahe ohu'o bub)
natural pigments on nioge (barkcloth)
94 x 78 cm
832387
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A Man attempting to cross a bend in the flooding Jordon River. With her profound uehorero or wisdom, Fate has painted a dramatic scene common in Omie territory and likely...
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A Man attempting to cross a bend in the flooding Jordon River.
With her profound uehorero or wisdom, Fate has painted a dramatic scene common in Omie territory and likely to be of historical significance among the Omie or certain clans. The border is known as orriseege or pathways and provides a compositional framework for the designs. The large zig zag that Fate has pained represents a bend in the river, jowo tahgwe. The river is the same one that Fate often paints known as Uborida, or the Jordon River, which is close to Gora village where she has lived most of her life since she married as a young woman. The fine yellow markings through the centre of the work are the powerful flooding waters of he river after the rain. the fine red and yellow markings at each side of the work are the breaking banks of the river as it floods. The spots within both the orriseege and the river bend are known as sabu deje representing the spots which can be seen on the sides of a wood-boring grub. This grub is sacred to Omie people as it plays an important part within the creation story of how Huvaimo came to be volcanic. It is a traditional sor'e (tattoo design) which was most commonly tattooed running in one line under both eyes. Today it is applied to Omie people's faces for dance performances with natural pigments. The slanting lines within the river bend are ije biweje, representing boys cutting the leaves of a tree. Fate explains, ; The mother was cleaning the bush to make a garden with her two young sons. The boys climbed a tree to cut all of the branches and leaves down. The branches fell down and the mother took all of the leaves and threw them away. Then the mother got plenty of bananas, taro and yam to plant in their newly cleared garden. When they finished planting all of the plants, they ate all of the food from the garden and lived a long life.'
The criss-cross design within both the orriseege and the river bend is mi'ija'ahe, animal bones found while digging in the garden. The bristle design of fine,short lines seen within the orriseege are dubidubi'e han'e which are small white plants that grow on mountain tops. The chevron design within the river bend is buboriano'e, beaks of the Papuan Hornbill.
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