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 LILA WARRIMOU (MISASO) of Omie Artists. The title is The origin of Ömie barkcloth III (aheruahë’é ohu’o sabudeje – the first design and spots of the wood-boring grub). [OM10-061] (Natural Pigments on Nioge (Barkcloth)) Australian Indigenous (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) artwork by LILA WARRIMOU (MISASO) of Omie Artists. The title is The origin of Ömie barkcloth III (aheruahë’é ohu’o sabudeje – the first design and spots of the wood-boring grub). [OM10-061] (Natural Pigments on Nioge (Barkcloth))
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LILA WARRIMOU (MISASO)

The origin of Ömie barkcloth III (aheruahë’é ohu’o sabudeje – the first design and spots of the wood-boring grub)
The origin of Ömie barkcloth III (aheruahë’é ohu’o sabudeje – the first...

OM10-061
Natural Pigments on Nioge (Barkcloth)
 The origin of Ömie barkcloth I… | OM10-061
Natural Pigments on Nioge (Barkclot…
 114 x 123cm | 44.88 x 48.43in (irregular)
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When Lila was a young girl living at Kinado village at Gora she saw a female chief, one of her “mothers”, wearing a barkcloth painted with the aheruahë’é design.  The name of the design aheruahë’é traslates as “to paint across” like a line or a stripe.

This design could only be worn by the a chief as it was “the first design” ever painted onto a barkcloth by the ancestors and therefore is a highly sacred and special design.  While the aheruahë’é design is visually similar to Ömie orriseegé or ’pathways’, which provide a compositional framework to painting designs, it stands apart as it is considered a design in its own right.  The spots within the orriseegé border and also within the design are 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 Huvaemo (Mt. 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.

Note: This is the third work of a series which also includes works ÖM10-059 and ÖM10-061.

When Lila was a young girl living at Kinado village at Gora she saw a female chief, one of her “mothers”, wearing a barkcloth painted with the aheruahë’é design.  The name of the design aheruahë’é traslates as “to paint across” like a line or a stripe.

This design could only be worn by the a chief as it was “the first design” ever painted onto a barkcloth by the ancestors and therefore is a highly sacred and special...