No si hijomiono’o jabesi soré jajivo - (We are painting the designs of our ancestors)

A Collection of barkcloth art from the Ömie Artists, Papua New Guinea.

No si hijomiono’o jabesi soré jajivo - (We are painting the designs of our ancestors)

A Collection of barkcloth art from the Ömie Artists, Papua New Guinea.

Australian Indigenous (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) artwork by DAPENI JONEVARI (MOKOKARI) of Omie Artists. The title is Asimano’e, guai, taigu taigu’e, odunaigö’e, dahoru’e ohu’o sabu ahe – Heads of Men, Ancestral Underground Tattooing Sites, Pattern of a Leaf, Jungle vine, Ömie Mountains and Spots of the Wood-Boring Grub. [OM10-073] (Natural Pigments on Nioge (Barkcloth)) Australian Indigenous (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) artwork by DAPENI JONEVARI (MOKOKARI) of Omie Artists. The title is Asimano’e, guai, taigu taigu’e, odunaigö’e, dahoru’e ohu’o sabu ahe – Heads of Men, Ancestral Underground Tattooing Sites, Pattern of a Leaf, Jungle vine, Ömie Mountains and Spots of the Wood-Boring Grub. [OM10-073] (Natural Pigments on Nioge (Barkcloth))
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DAPENI JONEVARI (MOKOKARI)

Asimano’e, guai, taigu taigu’e, odunaigö’e, dahoru’e ohu’o sabu ahe – Heads of Men, Ancestral Underground Tattooing Sites, Pattern of a Leaf, Jungle vine, Ömie Mountains and Spots of the Wood-Boring Grub
Asimano’e, guai, taigu taigu’e, odunaigö’e, dahoru’e ohu’o sabu ahe –...

OM10-073
Natural Pigments on Nioge (Barkcloth)
 Asimano’e, guai, taigu taigu’e… | OM10-073
Natural Pigments on Nioge (Barkclot…
 0 x 0cm | 0 x 0in
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The rows of circles are asimano’e - the heads of men complete with ears and eyes. Dapeni explains how this design is uehorëro (her own wisdom) and came to her in a dream. The surrounding streams of zig-zagging lines and their curling offshoots are traditional soru’e (tattoo designs) known as taigu taigu’e (leaf pattern) and odunaigö’e (a climbing jungle vine with thorns and tendrils). The straight lines running through the painting are known as orriseegé or ’pathways’ which provide a compositional framework to the designs. Dapeni has interrupted the usual path of the orriseegé with a rectangular design - guai. guai are ancestral underground sites where pubescent children lived until they reached sexual maturity and were ready for initiation into manhood and womanhood.

Before their initiation ceremony boys and girls were tattooed inside the guai by their families. Mens’ entire bodies would be tattooed while only the cheeks of women were tattooed. Dapeni’s father told her how her grandfather lived in a guai where he underwent his initiation tattooing. The small black sawtooth design around the edges of the orriseegé are dahoru’e - the design of the Ömie mountains. The spots just above the dahoru’e are sabu ahe which represent the spots found 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 Huvaemo (Mt. Lamington) 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 Ömie people’s faces for dance performances with natural pigments.

The rows of circles are asimano’e - the heads of men complete with ears and eyes. Dapeni explains how this design is uehorëro (her own wisdom) and came to her in a dream. The surrounding streams of zig-zagging lines and their curling offshoots are traditional soru’e (tattoo designs) known as taigu taigu’e (leaf pattern) and odunaigö’e (a climbing jungle vine with thorns and tendrils). The straight lines running through the painting are known as orriseegé...