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 SARAH UGIBARI of Omie Artists. The title is Obohutaigu’e – Ancestors tattoo design of the chin (tree bark pattern). [15-038] (Natural Pigments on Nioge (Barkcloth)) Australian Indigenous (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) artwork by SARAH UGIBARI of Omie Artists. The title is Obohutaigu’e – Ancestors tattoo design of the chin (tree bark pattern). [15-038] (Natural Pigments on Nioge (Barkcloth))
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SARAH UGIBARI

Obohutaigu’e – Ancestors tattoo design of the chin (tree bark pattern)
15-038
Natural Pigments on Nioge (Barkcloth)
 Obohutaigu’e – Ancestors tatto… | 15-038
Natural Pigments on Nioge (Barkclot…
 101 x 59cm | 39.76 x 23.23in (irregular)
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This work is composed purely of ujawé soru’e (tattoo designs) that adorned the body of Sarah Ugibari’s late husband, a man from Gora village. This tattoo design is taken from the chin and is believed to represent the pattern of tree bark seen on the trunk of a tree in the time of the Ancestors. This is the only example Sarah painted of this particular design during her time painting for Ömie Artists (2009 – 2015). Jö’o sor’e, the design of the uncurling fern frond, can also be seen.

The Ujawé initiation rites were a very important part of Ömie culture and society in order for boys to become men and girls to become women. Boys and girls underwent a period of seclusion, living in underground chambers known as guai, where, after some time, the boys and girls would undergo tattooing with tribal and clan specific tattoos. The guai was a deep, rectangular dugout hole in the ground where young adult boys and girls would live until sexual maturation. The holes were covered with split, black palm roofs and covered with dirt so no one would know they were in there. There were small doors where parents could pass their children food so they would grow well. Inside, the hole was separated into individual living compartments with enough room for the young adults to still be able to walk around. Boys and girls were forbidden from touching each other while in the guai, otherwise their bodies would not grow and they would become thin. When boys and girls who lived inside the guai reached sexual maturity and became men and women, elders would go inside the guai to tattoo them for their Ujawé initiation. Men’s bodies would often be tattooed with designs such as: vinohu’e (design of the bellybutton); taigu taigu’e; mododai diburi’e; sabu deje/sabu ahe (spots of the wood-boring grub); obohutaigue; and odunaigö’e (jungle vine). Women’s faces would often be tattooed with: jo’o sor’e (uncurling fern fronds); and taigu taigu’e.

This work is composed purely of ujawé soru’e (tattoo designs) that adorned the body of Sarah Ugibari’s late husband, a man from Gora village. This tattoo design is taken from the chin and is believed to represent the pattern of tree bark seen on the trunk of a tree in the time of the Ancestors. This is the only example Sarah painted of this particular design during her time painting for Ömie Artists (2009 – 2015). Jö’o sor’e, the design of the uncurling...