OMIE REVEALED: Bark from Papua New Guinea
Past exhibition
Celestine Warina PNG, Omie, b. c.1947
Tagure (udane une, sabu'ahe ohu'o cobbure jo'o si'o si'o ve'e)
natural pigments on nioge (barkcloth)
103.5 x 69 cm
832024
Old tree rotting with new, small plants growing from it (the eggs of the giant Spiny Stick Insect, spot of the wood boring grub and pattern of a snake's lip)....
Old tree rotting with new, small plants growing from it (the eggs of the giant Spiny Stick Insect, spot of the wood boring grub and pattern of a snake's lip).
Celestine has painted traditional Sahuote clan designs. The lines that run through the painting are known as orriseege or pathways and provide a compositional framework for the design. The main design is tagure, representing new, small plants growing out from an old tree which has fallen and its truck is rotting on the forest floor. The short lines that run parallel through the dahoru'e and orriseege are undane une, the eggs of the Giant Spiny Stick Insect. The spots within the orriseege and dahoru'e 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 Omie people as it plays an important part within the creation story of how Huvaimo (Mt Lamington) came to be volcanic. It is a traditional soru'e (tattoo design) which was most commonly tattooed as a band of spots under each eye. Today it is applied to Omie people's faces for dance performances with natural pigment.
Celestine has painted traditional Sahuote clan designs. The lines that run through the painting are known as orriseege or pathways and provide a compositional framework for the design. The main design is tagure, representing new, small plants growing out from an old tree which has fallen and its truck is rotting on the forest floor. The short lines that run parallel through the dahoru'e and orriseege are undane une, the eggs of the Giant Spiny Stick Insect. The spots within the orriseege and dahoru'e 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 Omie people as it plays an important part within the creation story of how Huvaimo (Mt Lamington) came to be volcanic. It is a traditional soru'e (tattoo design) which was most commonly tattooed as a band of spots under each eye. Today it is applied to Omie people's faces for dance performances with natural pigment.