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 Mweje, ije biweje, varib’e ohu’o jubuje - Gardens, boys chopping tree branches, Dahorurajé clan emblem, boys chopping tree branches and nocturnal marsupial (Fate Savari’s ‘signature’). [12-235] (Ink and Pencil on Card) Australian Indigenous (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) artwork by FATE SAVARI (ISAWDI) of Omie Artists. The title is Mweje, ije biweje, varib’e ohu’o jubuje - Gardens, boys chopping tree branches, Dahorurajé clan emblem, boys chopping tree branches and nocturnal marsupial (Fate Savari’s ‘signature’). [12-235] (Ink and Pencil on Card)
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FATE SAVARI (ISAWDI) (dec)

Mweje, ije biweje, varib’e ohu’o jubuje - Gardens, boys chopping tree branches, Dahorurajé clan emblem, boys chopping tree branches and nocturnal marsupial (Fate Savari’s ‘signature’)
Mweje, ije biweje, varib’e ohu’o jubuje - Gardens, boys chopping tree...

12-235
Ink and Pencil on Card
 Mweje, ije biweje, varib’e ohu… | 12-235
Ink and Pencil on Card
 29.5 x 21cm | 11.61 x 8.27in (irregular)
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The square designs are mweje, gardens. Sometimes Fate also refers to this and related garden designs as mwe and or’e, gardens and paths through the garden. The crosshatched lines drawn in red and yellow pencil are garden plots. The lines commonly seen running throughout Ömie women’s paintings known as orriseegé or ‘pathways’, originate from the ancient mwe/mweje/or’e garden designs.

The design of slanting lines is ije bi’weje, representing 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.”

Fate has included two ‘artist signatures’ or ‘artist stamps’ on this drawing including:

~ The singular plant emblem with the leaves is the Dahorurajé clan design of varib’e, a small palm. This also originates from the old Sidonejo village.

~ The jubuje is an unidentified nocturnal marsupial animal (similar to a possum). They live on top of the mountain. Omie people use to eat jubuje. It can be found feeding on the fruit of the jari-han’e tree. Fate explains, “I am the Jubuje… be-cause I paint fast! … just like the Jubuje moves through the trees."

The square designs are mweje, gardens. Sometimes Fate also refers to this and related garden designs as mwe and or’e, gardens and paths through the garden. The crosshatched lines drawn in red and yellow pencil are garden plots. The lines commonly seen running throughout Ömie women’s paintings known as orriseegé or ‘pathways’, originate from the ancient mwe/mweje/or’e garden designs.

The design of slanting lines is ije bi’weje, representing boys...