THE ART OF ISAWDI (FATE SAVARI)

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

THE ART OF ISAWDI (FATE SAVARI)

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

Australian Indigenous (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) artwork by FATE SAVARI (ISAWDI) of Omie Artists. The title is Amami sor’e - Design of the Ancestors. [17-035] (Natural Pigments on Nioge (Barkcloth)) Australian Indigenous (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) artwork by FATE SAVARI (ISAWDI) of Omie Artists. The title is Amami sor’e - Design of the Ancestors. [17-035] (Natural Pigments on Nioge (Barkcloth))
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FATE SAVARI (ISAWDI) (dec)

Amami sor’e - Design of the Ancestors
17-035
Natural Pigments on Nioge (Barkcloth)
 Amami sor’e - Design of the An… | 17-035
Natural Pigments on Nioge (Barkclot…
 91.5 x 55cm | 36.02 x 21.65in
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Fate has painted a highly significant design of the Ancestors. She explains, “This is how the first ancestors painted in the beginning… my mother showed me everything.” The main chevron designs are ancient and believed to have originated from two related ancestral designs known as obohutaigue—Ancestral Ujawé initiation tattoo design of the chin (tree bark pattern) and ije taigue—design of the crooked tree. Interestingly, similar ancestral chevron designs were painted by Sahuoté clan elders Lillian Garobi (Neneebé) and Celestine Warina (Kaaru). Fate painted this particular ancestral design once only since Gora Art Centre opened in early 2010.

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

The small groups of crosses that run through the orriseegé are mi’ija’ahe, animal bones found while digging in the garden.

The lines that run diagonally through the orriseegé and main chevron design are ije bi’weje – boys cutting the leaves of a tree. Fate explains: “The mother was cleaning the bush to make a garden with her two young sons. The boys climbed a tree to cut all of the branches and leaves down. The branches fell down and the mother took all of the leaves and threw them away. Then the mother got plenty of bananas, taro and yam to plant in their newly cleared garden. When they finished planting all of the plants, they ate all of the food from the garden and lived a long life.”

The spots within the orriseegé and main chevron design is a design 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 Huvaimo 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.

Fate has painted a highly significant design of the Ancestors. She explains, “This is how the first ancestors painted in the beginning… my mother showed me everything.” The main chevron designs are ancient and believed to have originated from two related ancestral designs known as obohutaigue—Ancestral Ujawé initiation tattoo design of the chin (tree bark pattern) and ije taigue—design of the crooked tree. Interestingly, similar ancestral chevron designs were...