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 Untitled. [12-226] (Pencil on Schoolbook Paper) Australian Indigenous (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) artwork by FATE SAVARI (ISAWDI) of Omie Artists. The title is Untitled. [12-226] (Pencil on Schoolbook Paper)
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FATE SAVARI (ISAWDI) (dec)

Untitled
12-226
Pencil on Schoolbook Paper
 Untitled | 12-226
Pencil on Schoolbook Paper
 17.5 x 21.8cm | 6.89 x 8.58in (irregular)
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In 2012 at Gora Art Centre, Fate Savari presented a schoolbook she had obtained from her granddaughter. It was filled from front to back with drawings about her ancestral Ömie stories (including the Ömie creation story), histories, culture and clan designs. There were also some loose pages in the front and back of the schoolbook and more drawings on paper wrapped up in a larger drawing on paper. Fate created the book and drawings because she felt a great urgency to record her profound knowledge before she passed away. This is one of the special drawings from that first presentation of drawings.

This main overall design in this drawing is unknown.

Other designs that can be identified in this drawing:

~ The chevron (arrow-tip) design that run through the orriseegé and intersecting lines is buboriano’e, beaks of the Papuan Hornbill (Rhyticeros plicatus).

~ The curved lines are nenyai, a white seashell forehead adornment worn by women. Fate says these were made “in the times of the Ancestors” and are still worn today.

~ The lines that run diagonally 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 short bristle-like design is ijo bunë, representing the roots of trees after they have been chopped down in order to clear the garden for planting food. Another short bristle-like design that can be seen is dubi dubi’e, representing the leaf of a rainforest vine that often grows on mountaintops.

~ The criss-cross design is mi’ija’ahe, animal (wallaby) bones found while digging in the garden.

In 2012 at Gora Art Centre, Fate Savari presented a schoolbook she had obtained from her granddaughter. It was filled from front to back with drawings about her ancestral Ömie stories (including the Ömie creation story), histories, culture and clan designs. There were also some loose pages in the front and back of the schoolbook and more drawings on paper wrapped up in a larger drawing on paper. Fate created the book and drawings because she felt a great urgency to record her profound...