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 LILA WARRIMOU (MISASO) of Omie Artists. The title is Odunaigë, mahuva’oje ohu’o sabu deje – Jungle vines, pig’s hoofprints and spots of the wood-boring grub. [15-005] (Natural Pigments on Nioge (Barkcloth)) Australian Indigenous (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) artwork by LILA WARRIMOU (MISASO) of Omie Artists. The title is Odunaigë, mahuva’oje ohu’o sabu deje – Jungle vines, pig’s hoofprints and spots of the wood-boring grub. [15-005] (Natural Pigments on Nioge (Barkcloth))
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LILA WARRIMOU (MISASO)

Odunaigë, mahuva’oje ohu’o sabu deje – Jungle vines, pig’s hoofprints and spots of the wood-boring grub
Odunaigë, mahuva’oje ohu’o sabu deje – Jungle vines, pig’s hoofprints...

15-005
Natural Pigments on Nioge (Barkcloth)
 Odunaigë, mahuva’oje ohu’o sab… | 15-005
Natural Pigments on Nioge (Barkclot…
 67 x 96cm | 26.38 x 37.8in (irregular)
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The arcs designs are hartu’e, the design of the ceremonial shell necklace. Hartu’e have mouthpieces behind the shell which dancers bite to display in their mouths during ceremonial dance performances. Ömie people obtained the shells from coastal tribes of Oro Province by means of trade and they also collected them from the beach. Most hartu’e and other shell necklaces that can still be found in the Ömie mountains were originally traded by the owners parents or grandparents a long time ago. Sometimes the ‘shell’ can be fashioned from a cassowary breastbone to replicate the shell.

Lila has traced the edges of the hart’e arcs with radiating lines, working inwardly as the cadences themselves become an important part of the visual effect of the work. This is a customary technique, rarely seen, that Lila was taught as a young girl and has mastered. The lines that run through the work, forming squares, are known as orriseegé (paths/pathways) and provide a compositional framework for the design. The orriseegé is infilled with sabu deje, a design 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 Huvaimo (Mount 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 with natural pigments for dance performances. The small black triangles within each frame are mahuva’oje, the hoof-prints of a mischievous pig that has wreaked havoc on a garden. The mahuva’oje design is also painted by Fate Savari, so it appears to be a particularly strong design amongst elders of the Dahoruraje clan.

The arcs designs are hartu’e, the design of the ceremonial shell necklace. Hartu’e have mouthpieces behind the shell which dancers bite to display in their mouths during ceremonial dance performances. Ömie people obtained the shells from coastal tribes of Oro Province by means of trade and they also collected them from the beach. Most hartu’e and other shell necklaces that can still be found in the Ömie mountains were originally traded by the owners parents or grandparents...