Nom’e Javavamu Darugé I’jové (We Dance Our Designs to Life)

A Collection of Barkcloth Art from the Ömie Artists, Papua New Guinea

Nom’e Javavamu Darugé I’jové (We Dance Our Designs to Life)

A Collection of Barkcloth Art from the Ömie Artists, Papua New Guinea

Australian Indigenous (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) artwork by DIONA JONEVARI (SUWARARI) of Omie Artists. The title is Mahudan’e, vison’e, dahoru’e ohu’o buborianö’e – Pig tusk jewellery (customary wealth), eel bone jewellery for initiation nasal septum piercings, Ömie mountains and beaks of the Papuan Hornbill. [15-093] (Natural Pigments on Nioge (Barkcloth)) Australian Indigenous (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) artwork by DIONA JONEVARI (SUWARARI) of Omie Artists. The title is Mahudan’e, vison’e, dahoru’e ohu’o buborianö’e – Pig tusk jewellery (customary wealth), eel bone jewellery for initiation nasal septum piercings, Ömie mountains and beaks of the Papuan Hornbill. [15-093] (Natural Pigments on Nioge (Barkcloth))
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DIONA JONEVARI (SUWARARI)

Mahudan’e, vison’e, dahoru’e ohu’o buborianö’e – Pig tusk jewellery (customary wealth), eel bone jewellery for initiation nasal septum piercings, Ömie mountains and beaks of the Papuan Hornbill
Mahudan’e, vison’e, dahoru’e ohu’o buborianö’e – Pig tusk jewellery (customary...

15-093
Natural Pigments on Nioge (Barkcloth)
 Mahudan’e, vison’e, dahoru’e o… | 15-093
Natural Pigments on Nioge (Barkclot…
 159 x 64cm | 62.6 x 25.2in (irregular)
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The lines that run through the work are known as orriseegé (paths/pathways) and provide a compositional framework for the designs.

The border design within each frame is composed of two designs - the triangles are dahoru’e, Ömie mountains, and the zig-zag design over the triangles is buborianö’e, the beaks of the Papuan Hornbill (Rhyticeros plicatus). Hornbills are the largest flying birds that can be found in the Ömie mountains. 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 curved design which is struck-through by a line is mahudanö’e, pig tusks. These are displayed on necklaces which usually consist of two tusks bound together in opposite directions with natural bush fibre necklace string. Pig’s tusks are the traditional form of wealth for Ömie tribespeople and are often used for brideprice. During ceremonies, rituals and dancing pig’s tusk necklaces are worn by men and sometimes, although very rarely, by high-ranking women elders. The pig’s tusks have mouthpieces which male dancers bite, displaying the object to make themselves look like fierce warriors. In the time of the ancestors when tribal conflicts, village raids and retribution were an everyday part of life, no doubt this would have served a very important purpose.

The curved design represent vison’e, jewellery for the nasal septum made from a small bone from the bones of the eel. This piercing was a very important part of the Ömie initiation rite for boys and girls known as the Ujawé. The Ujawé initiation rites of piercing and tattooing were performed in underground chambers known as guai.

The lines that run through the work are known as orriseegé (paths/pathways) and provide a compositional framework for the designs.

The border design within each frame is composed of two designs - the triangles are dahoru’e, Ömie mountains, and the zig-zag design over the triangles is buborianö’e, the beaks of the Papuan Hornbill (Rhyticeros plicatus). Hornbills are the largest flying birds that can be found in the Ömie mountains. In one version of the story...