Jessie Bujava (Kipora)
Obohutaigu’e ohuo sin’e soré (vinohu’e, siha’e, taigu taigu’e, jö’o sor’e), visu anö’e, vavor’e daje, bubori anö’e ohu’o ori sigé - Ancestors’ tattoo design of the chin (tree bark pattern) and Ujawé rite initiation body designs (design of the navel, fruit, 2023
locally sourced natural pigments on nioge (hand beaten barkcloth)
116 x 61 cm
BUJJ002 23-045
Copyright The Artist
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 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. They relate to the intricate footpaths that run through food gardens and garden plots.
The designs in this painting are Ujawé sin’e soru’e (initiation tattoos), which were applied during the sacred Ujawé initiation rituals conducted underground in guai (isolated tattooing chambers) where mens’ would stay in seclusion for months and their bodies would be tattooed. Part of the magic of Jessie’s compositions is that she can weave many designs seemlessly into a single composition. This skill shows her mastery of nioge (barkcloth) painting developed gradually since her youth and throughout her lifetime.
~ The key design within the bands is known as obohutaigué and represents a pattern seen on the bark of a tree. This is traditional soru’e, a tattoo design which was applied to the chin. This design was taught to Jessie by her father Albert Sirimi (Nanati).
~ Inside the bands of orriseegé is the diamond design siha’e, representing the fruit of the Sihe tree. The siha’e design is sometimes also called vinohu’e, the men’s tattoo design of the navel. 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 chew-ing the sihe fruit, swallowing the juice and then they would spit out the pulp.
The chevron design surrounding the diamond-shaped siha’e design, as well as within the orriseegé bands, are visuan’e, the teeth of the freshwater river fish.
The black, infilled triangle design is bubori anö’e, beaks of the Papuan Hornbill (Rhyticeros plicatus). Hornbills are the largest flying birds that can be found in the Ömie mountains. In the ancient story of how the first group of people emerged onto the surface of the earth from Awai’i underground cave at a site known as Vavago, one man [who cannot be named due to current Ömie jagor’e (law)], used his hornbill beak forehead adornment as a tool to chisel his way through the rock and into the light of the world.
Text courtesy Ömie Artists.
The designs in this painting are Ujawé sin’e soru’e (initiation tattoos), which were applied during the sacred Ujawé initiation rituals conducted underground in guai (isolated tattooing chambers) where mens’ would stay in seclusion for months and their bodies would be tattooed. Part of the magic of Jessie’s compositions is that she can weave many designs seemlessly into a single composition. This skill shows her mastery of nioge (barkcloth) painting developed gradually since her youth and throughout her lifetime.
~ The key design within the bands is known as obohutaigué and represents a pattern seen on the bark of a tree. This is traditional soru’e, a tattoo design which was applied to the chin. This design was taught to Jessie by her father Albert Sirimi (Nanati).
~ Inside the bands of orriseegé is the diamond design siha’e, representing the fruit of the Sihe tree. The siha’e design is sometimes also called vinohu’e, the men’s tattoo design of the navel. 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 chew-ing the sihe fruit, swallowing the juice and then they would spit out the pulp.
The chevron design surrounding the diamond-shaped siha’e design, as well as within the orriseegé bands, are visuan’e, the teeth of the freshwater river fish.
The black, infilled triangle design is bubori anö’e, beaks of the Papuan Hornbill (Rhyticeros plicatus). Hornbills are the largest flying birds that can be found in the Ömie mountains. In the ancient story of how the first group of people emerged onto the surface of the earth from Awai’i underground cave at a site known as Vavago, one man [who cannot be named due to current Ömie jagor’e (law)], used his hornbill beak forehead adornment as a tool to chisel his way through the rock and into the light of the world.
Text courtesy Ömie Artists.