Lila has painted an important design for the Dahorurajé clan, avino’e, the design of the moon. Lila explains that she was taught this design by her auntie, Joyce-Bella Mujorumo, former Duvahe (Chief) of Dahorurajé clan women. This special design can be traced back to Udu’a, Lokirro’s wife. Udu’a then taught Joyce-Bella Mujorumo.

The border and the irregular square frames are known as orriseegé or ‘pathways’ and provide a compositional framework for the designs. The or’e (path) designs originate from the time of the ancestors and relate to the intricate footpaths that run through food gardens and garden plots. The first mud-dyed barkcloths were simple, repetitive bands of simple vertical lines (either in appliqued mud-dyed barkcloth or painted with dark earth pigments likely to also be river ‘mud’) or representing these pathways through the garden of and are a design that may only be worn by maganahe duvahe (female Chiefs).

The frames of black triangles and zig-zagging triangles are mahuva’oje, the hoofprints of a mischievous and cheeky pig that has wreaked havoc on a garden during the night. The diamond design represents the fruit of the Sihe tree. Sihe is a yellow fruit found in the rainforest and often eaten by cassowaries. In the time of the Ancestors, during times of tribal warfare, the Ömie male warriors had no food while they were defending their borders in the forest far from their villages so they survived by chewing the Sihe fruit, swallowing the juice and then they would spit out the pulp. The siha’e design is sometimes also called vinohu’e, the men’s tattoo design of the bellybutton. The diamond shape was tattooed around men’s navals during the Ujawé initiation rite. The spots within the orriseegé and the moon design is a design known as sabu deje 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 for dance performances with natural pigments.

Story: THE OLD WOMAN WHO HUNG THE SUN AND MOON FROM THE TREE [1]

A long time ago there lived an old woman who had a large bilum [2] (woven string-bag). She carried the Sun, Moon and stars inside her bilum. She would pull the Sun out from her bilum and hang it high in the branch of a tree to bring the daylight. She would clear the bush from around the tree and the tree fork, keeping the area very clean. At the end of the day she would get the Sun and put it back inside her bilum. She would then take the Moon out from her bilum and hang it on the same tree branch, bringing the night. She took all the stars out from her bilum and spread them across the sky. One day a man saw the Sun. He started watching the Sun closely. As the Sun was rising, he followed it. He saw the old woman hanging the Sun and Moon and then hiding them inside her bilum. He said to himself, “Oh, that is what the old woman has been doing which brings the light and the darkness!” The man went home to his village and told the story to all the people. He explained to them how the old woman was looking after the Sun, Moon and stars and how that was her work. Everyone in the village had thought she was working in her food garden each day, but really she was clearing the bush to make space for the Sun and Moon to be seen clearly and to shine brightly in the sky.

[1] © Lila Warrimou & Rex Warrimou (Sabïo); orally translated by Alban Sare; transcribed by Brennan King at Savodobehi village, 2010.
[2] In Ömie language, a large bilum is called a bojoy.

Lila has painted an incredibly rare, large and oversized nioge blanket—the largest barkcloth she created during her time painting for Ömie Artists (since 2002). The complex and astonishing array of traditional designs she has painted on the blanket were taught to her by one of her mothers’ (her aunt), Joyce-Bella Mujorumo, former Duvahe (Chief) of Dahorurajé clan women.

The border and the irregular square frames are known as orriseegé or ‘pathways’ and provide a compositional framework for the designs. The or’e (path) designs originate from the time of the ancestors and relate to the intricate footpaths that run through food gardens and garden plots. The first mud-dyed barkcloths were simple, repetitive bands of simple vertical lines (either in appliqued mud-dyed barkcloth or painted with dark earth pigments likely to also be river ‘mud’) or representing these pathways through the garden of and are a design that may only be worn by maganahe duvahe (female Chiefs).

The conjoined concentric circles are viojoje dehe, the wings of the butterfly. The stem/leaf-like designs are ije ridimë’e, the customary jungle ladder which is used to climb tall trees to collect fruit and set traps for hunting birds. This jungle ladder is mentioned several times throughout the Ömie creation stories. The three-pronged motif is gojavö hanö’e, the tailfeathers of the red and black parrot used in men’s feather headdresses as would be seen in the elaborate Ujawé initiation ceremonial feasts. The sawtooth lines of triangles represent vison’e, jewellery for the nasal septum made from a small eel bone in the time of the Ancestors. In more recent times the vison’e is fashioned from the chest-bone of a tubor’e (Dwarf Cassowary). This piercing was a very important part of the Ömie Ujawé initiation rite for boys and girls. The Ujawé initiation rites of piercing and tattooing were performed in underground chambers known as guai. The vertical lines of diamonds are the men’s tattoo design of the bellybutton, vinohu’e, representing siha’u’e, the fruit of the sihe tree. Lila explains how in the time of the ancestors during times of tribal warfare, the Ömie male warriors had no food while they were defending their borders in the forest far from their villages so they survived by chewing the sihe fruit, swallowing the juice and then they would spit out the pulp. The curling design is known as odunaigö’e, a climbing jungle vine with thorns and tendrils. In one version of the story of how the first Ömie Ancestors emerged onto the surface of the earth from Awai’i underground cave at Vavago, a man climbed the odunaige vine to reach the light which beamed through a crack on the srface of the earth. Both the vinohu’e/siha’e and odunaige body designs were tattooed on male initiates bodies during the sacred Ujawé rite. The small zig-zag/triangular deigns are buboriano’e, beaks of the Papuan Hornbill (Rhyticeros plicatus). Hornbills are the largest flying birds that can be found in the Ömie mountains. In the same story of how the first Ömie Ancestors emerged onto the surface of the earth from Awai’i underground cave at Vavago, the man then used his hornbill beak forehead adornment as a tool to chisel his way through the rock and into the light of the world. The triangles infilled with black pigment within the orriseegé frames are the Dahorurajé clan design, mahuva’oje, the hoof-prints of a cheeky and mischievous pig that has wreaked havoc on a garden during the night.

The border and the irregular square frames are known as orriseegé or ‘pathways’ and provide a compositional framework for the designs. The or’e (path) designs originate from the time of the ancestors and relate to the intricate footpaths that run through food gardens and garden plots. The first mud-dyed barkcloths were simple, repetitive bands of simple vertical lines (either in appliqued mud-dyed barkcloth or painted with dark earth pigments likely to also be river ‘mud’) or representing these pathways through the garden of and are a design that may only be worn by maganahe duvahe (female Chiefs).

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 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 cheeky and mischievous pig that has wreaked havoc on a garden during the night. The mahuva’oje design is also painted by Fate Savari, it is an important design amongst elders of the Dahoruraje clan.

Lila has painted an incredibly rare, large and oversized nioge blanket. The complex and astonishing array of traditional designs she has painted on the blanket were taught to her by one of her mothers’ (her aunt), Joyce-Bella Mujorumo, former Duvahe (Chief) of Dahorurajé clan women.

The border and the irregular square frames are known as orriseegé or ‘pathways’ and provide a compositional framework for the designs. The or’e (path) designs originate from the time of the ancestors and relate to the intricate footpaths that run through food gardens and garden plots. The first mud-dyed barkcloths were simple, repetitive bands of simple vertical lines (either in appliqued mud-dyed barkcloth or painted with dark earth pigments likely to also be river ‘mud’) or representing these pathways through the garden of and are a design that may only be worn by maganahe duvahe (female Chiefs).

The main repeated arch design is amami sor’e, a design painted by the Ömie ancestors. This particular design is thought to be related to the ceremonial turtle shell and seashell necklaces the Ömie created. The precious turtle shell fragments are referred to as ‘worro worrë in’e in’e’. Turtle shell and seashell were foreign, rare and beautiful materials from the faraway coast so it was highly valued in the Ömie mountains and would be displayed as a form of wealth on necklaces. This was the primary form of traditional currency of the Ömie. The shells were so highly valued they also became an important barkcloth design painted onto nioge. Ömie ancestors would travel to find turtle shells and seashells on the coast. The people living on the coast would hunt and kill the turtles but would leave the turtle shells on the beach. The Ömie would search for them and carry the turtle shell in one whole piece back up to the Ömie mountains. On a large scale this design creates a dazzling, hynotic visual effect.

The vertical lines of diamonds are the men’s tattoo design of the bellybutton, vinohu’e, representing siha’u’e, the fruit of the sihe tree. It is an importrant body design tattoed during the Ujawé initiation rite which were performed in underground chambers, known as guai, hidden in the forest. Lila explains how in the time of the ancestors during times of tribal warfare, the Ömie male warriors had no food while they were defending their borders in the forest far from their villages so they survived by chewing the sihe fruit, swallowing the juice and then they would spit out the pulp.

The triangles infilled with black pigment within the orriseegé frames are the Dahorurajé clan design, mahuva’oje, the hoof-prints of a cheeky and mischievous pig that has wreaked havoc on a garden during the night. 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.

Lila has painted an important design for the Dahorurajé clan, avino’e, the design of the moon. Lila explains that she was taught this design by her auntie, Joyce-Bella Mujorumo, former Duvahe (Chief) of Dahorurajé clan women. This special design can be traced back to Udu’a, Lokirro’s wife. Udu’a then taught Joyce-Bella Mujorumo.

The frames of black triangles and zig-zagging triangles are mahuva’oje, the hoofprints of a mischievous pig that has wreaked havoc on a garden. The border and the lines that run through the work are known as orriseegé or ‘pathways’ and provide a compositional framework for the design.

The diamond design represents the fruit of the Sihe tree. Sihe is a yellow fruit found in the rainforest and often eaten by cassowaries. In the time of the Ancestors, during times of tribal warfare, the Ömie male warriors had no food while they were defending their borders in the forest far from their villages so they survived by chewing the Sihe fruit, swallowing the juice and then they would spit out the pulp. The siha’e design is sometimes also called vinohu’e, the men’s tattoo design of the bellybutton. The diamond shape was tattooed around men’s navals during the Ujawé initiation rite.

The spots within the orriseegé and the moon design is a design known as sabu deje, 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 for dance performances with natural pigments.

Story: THE OLD WOMAN WHO HUNG THE SUN AND MOON FROM THE TREE [1]

A long time ago there lived an old woman who had a large bilum [2] (woven string-bag). She carried the Sun, Moon and stars inside her bilum. She would pull the Sun out from her bilum and hang it high in the branch of a tree to bring the daylight. She would clear the bush from around the tree and the tree fork, keeping the area very clean. At the end of the day she would get the Sun and put it back inside her bilum. She would then take the Moon out from her bilum and hang it on the same tree branch, bringing the night. She took all the stars out from her bilum and spread them across the sky.

One day a man saw the Sun. He started watching the Sun closely. As the Sun was rising, he followed it. He saw the old woman hanging the Sun and Moon and then hiding them inside her bilum. He said to himself, “Oh, that is what the old woman has been doing which brings the light and the darkness!”

The man went home to his village and told the story to all the people. He explained to them how the old woman was looking after the Sun, Moon and stars and how that was her work. Everyone in the village had thought she was working in her food garden each day, but really she was clearing the bush to make space for the Sun and Moon to be seen clearly and to shine brightly in the sky.

[1] © Lila Warrimou & Rex Warrimou (Sabïo); orally translated by Alban Sare; transcribed by Brennan King at Savodobehi village, 2010.

[2] In Ömie language, a large bilum is called a bojoy.

Lila has painted an iconic design of her people, the Ömie, and quite strikingly, in a relatively pure form—which is rarely seen and masterfully innovative. These designs were taught to her by one of her mothers’ (her aunt), Joyce-Bella Mujorumo, former Duvahe (Chief) of Dahorurajé clan women.

The border and the irregular square frames are known as orriseegé or ‘pathways’ and provide a compositional framework for the designs. The or’e (path) designs originate from the time of the ancestors and relate to the intricate footpaths that run through food gardens and garden plots. The first mud-dyed barkcloths were simple, repetitive bands of simple vertical lines (either in appliqued mud-dyed barkcloth or painted with dark earth pigments likely to also be river ‘mud’) or representing these pathways through the garden of and are a design that may only be worn by maganahe duvahe (female Chiefs).

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.

The main zigzag design of taigu taigu’e represents the pattern seen on a leaf and originates from the time of the ancestors. It is an importrant body design tattoed during the Ujawé initiation rite which were performed in underground chambers, known as guai, hidden in the forest.

The infilled black triangle design is buboriano’e, representing the beaks of the Papuan Hornbill (Rhyticeros plicatus). Hornbills are the largest flying birds that can be found in the Ömie mountains. In one version of the story of how the first Ömie Ancestors emerged onto the surface of the earth from Awai’i underground cave at Vavago, the man then used his hornbill beak forehead adornment as a tool to chisel his way through the rock and into the light of the world.

The triangles infilled with black pigment within the orriseegé frames are the Dahorurajé clan design, mahuva’oje, the hoof-prints of a cheeky and mischievous pig that has wreaked havoc on a garden during the night.

Lila has painted the customary barkcloth design of hartu’e, representing the pendant of a necklace made from seashells and seashell fragments. Lila was taught this design by her former husband Nathan Gama, Chief of Ematé clan men. Nathan grew up in Enopé village where most Ematé clanspeople lived before the eruption of Huvaimo (Mount Lamington) in 1951. In the times of the ancestors, this shell was obtained the from coastal tribes of Oro Province by means of trade and they also collected them from the beach. Most shell 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. Hartu’e have mouthpieces behind the shell which dancers bite to display in their mouths during ceremonial dance performances. These days the hartu’e ‘shell’ pendant is fashioned from the breastbone of the cassowary to replicate the shell.

The lines that run through the work are known as orriseegé or ‘pathways’ and provide a compositional framework for the designs. The or’e (path) designs are ancient and originate from the time of the Ancestors and relate to the intricate footpaths that run through food gardens and garden plots.

The spots which can be seen within the border are sabu ahe, representing the spots found 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 for dance performances with bright natural pigments.

Lila has painted a complex and astonishing array of traditional designs taught to her by one of her mothers’ (her aunt), Joyce-Bella Mujorumo, former Duvahe (Chief) of Dahorurajé clan women.

The border and the irregular square frames are known as orriseegé or ‘pathways’ and provide a compositional framework for the designs. The or’e (path) designs originate from the time of the ancestors and relate to the intricate footpaths that run through food gardens and garden plots. The first mud-dyed barkcloths were simple, repetitive bands of simple vertical lines (either in appliqued mud-dyed barkcloth or painted with dark earth pigments likely to also be river ‘mud’) or representing these pathways through the garden of and are a design that may only be worn by maganahe duvahe (female Chiefs).

The conjoined concentric circles are viojoje dehe, the wings of the butterfly. The stem/leaf-like designs are ije ridimë’e, the customary jungle ladder which is used to climb tall trees to collect fruit and set traps for hunting birds. This jungle ladder is mentioned several times throughout the Ömie creation stories. The three-pronged motif is gojavö hanö’e, the tailfeathers of the red and black parrot used in men’s feather headdresses as would be seen in the elaborate Ujawé initiation ceremonial feasts. The sawtooth lines of triangles represent vison’e, jewellery for the nasal septum made from a small eel bone in the time of the Ancestors. In more recent times the vison’e is fashioned from the chest-bone of a tubor’e (Dwarf Cassowary). This piercing was a very important part of the Ömie Ujawé initiation rite for boys and girls. The Ujawé initiation rites of piercing and tattooing were performed in underground chambers known as guai. The diamond design, as well as the vertical lines of diamonds, are the men’s tattoo design of the bellybutton, vinohu’e, representing siha’u’e, the fruit of the sihe tree. Lila explains how in the time of the ancestors during times of tribal warfare, the Ömie male warriors had no food while they were defending their borders in the forest far from their villages so they survived by chewing the sihe fruit, swallowing the juice and then they would spit out the pulp. The curling design is known as odunaigö’e, a climbing jungle vine with thorns and tendrils. In one version of the story of how the first Ömie Ancestors emerged onto the surface of the earth from Awai’i underground cave at Vavago, a man climbed the odunaige vine to reach the light which beamed through a crack on the srface of the earth. Both the vinohu’e/siha’e and odunaige body designs were tattooed on masle initiates bodies during the sacred Ujawé rite. The small zig-zag/triangular deigns are buboriano’e, beaks of the Papuan Hornbill (Rhyticeros plicatus). Hornbills are the largest flying birds that can be found in the Ömie mountains. In the same story of how the first Ömie Ancestors emerged onto the surface of the earth from Awai’i underground cave at Vavago, the man then used his hornbill beak forehead adornment as a tool to chisel his way through the rock and into the light of the world. The triangles infilled with black pigment within the orriseegé frames are the Dahorurajé clan design, mahuva’oje, the hoof-prints of a cheeky and mischievous pig that has wreaked havoc on a garden during the night. The spots are a design called sabu deje 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 (Mt. 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.

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.

Lila has painted a very rare painting design. These traditional designs were taught to her by one of her ‘mothers’ (her aunt), Joyce-Bella Mujorumo, former Duvahe (Chief) of Dahorurajé clan women.

The border and the irregular square frames are known as orriseegé or ‘pathways’ and provide a compositional framework for the designs.

The conjoined concentric circles are viojoje dehe, the wings of the butterfly.

The stem/leaf-like designs are ije ridimë’e, the customary jungle ladder which is used to climb tall trees to collect fruit and set traps for hunting birds. This jungle ladder is mentioned several times throughout the Ömie creation stories.

The vertical lines of diamonds are the men’s tattoo design of the bellybutton, vinohu’e, representing siha’u’e, the fruit of the sihe tree. Lila explains how in the time of the ancestors during times of tribal warfare, the Ömie male warriors had no food while they were defending their borders in the forest far from their villages so they survived by chewing the sihe fruit, swallowing the juice and then they would spit out the pulp.

The sawtooth lines of triangles represent vison’e, jewellery for the nasal septum made from a small eel bone in the time of the Ancestors. In more recent times the vison’e is fashioned from the chest-bone of a tubor’e (Dwarf Cassowary). This piercing was a very important part of the Ömie initiation rite for boys and girls known as the ujawé. The ujawé initiation rites of piercing and tattooing were performed in underground chambers known as guai.

The black triangles within the orriseegé frames are mahuva’oje, the hoofprints of a mischievous pig that has wreaked havoc on a garden.

The border is known as orriseegé or ‘pathways’ and provides a compositional framework for the design. The or’e (path) designs are ancient and originate from the time of the Ancestors and relate to the intricate footpaths that run through food gardens and garden plots.

When Lila was a young girl living at Kinado village at Gora she saw a female Duvahe (Chief), one of her “mothers”[1], wearing a barkcloth painted with the aheruahe’é stripe/band design. The name of the design aheruahëeé translates as “to paint across” like a line or a stripe. This design could only be worn by the a Duvahe as it was “the first design” ever painted onto a barkcloth by the ancestors and therefore is a highly significant and sacred design.

While the aheruahe’é design is visually similar to Ömie orriseegé or ‘pathways’, which provide a compositional framework to painting designs, it stands apart as it is considered a design in its own right. It is highly likely that the aheruahe’é design, which is the first painted nioge (barkcloth) design, directly relates to the amami nioge (first designs of the Ancestors) called mwe/mweje/or’e garden pathway paintings, as painted by the late Fate Savari (Isawdi). Fate was from the same Dahorurajé clan as Lila. Mwe, mweje and or’e translates as ‘gardens’ and ‘garden pathways’. There are stylistic similarities between the ‘first designs’ and the ‘garden’ designs, as if the source of abstract geometries the artists are drawing upon is one and the same. The Ömie Ancestors spent much of their waking life tending to their food garden plots among the forest, as the Ömie still do today. It seems perfectly fitting then that some of the first designs the Ömie Ancestors ever painted onto barkcloth were food gardens. As a matter of survival, the Ömie are closely in tune to both planting and harvesting vegetable and fruit crops seasonally, according to nature’s cycles. Furthermore, the mwe/mweje/or’e garden pathway paintings indicate that there is no conceptual separation between garden pathway designs and the orissegé (pathways) found throughout most Ömie nioge art.  All of these early Ömie designs: aheruahe’é (to paint across/stripes); mwe/mweje (garden); and or’e/orissegé (pathways) are all visually similar and are key designs in the origin and evolution of painted Ömie nioge art.

[1] In Ömie culture, the term ‘mothers’ is an all-encompassing term that denotes your mother, grandmothers and aunts.