EXHIBITING ARTISTS

ALBERT SIRIMI (NANATI)

Albert Sirimi (Nanati), (c. 1937-2012), was a highly respected Sahuoté clan lawman, master songman and the Assistant Paramount Chief of Ömie men. He is the only known Ömie man to have learnt traditional barkcloth painting designs from his mother. Sirimi was one of the last men who remembered the traditional Sahuoté clan funerary rites, which he played an important role in as a young man. He was a young boy living in the old Sahuoté clan village of Ab’i c.1940 when the first white man, Mr. Cook an Australian Patrol officer, accompanied by Orokaivan policemen set up camp at the base of his mountain village on a mission to 'civilize' the Ömie. Sirimi explains how Mr. Cook shot his gun at a tree to assert his power, eventually scaring and coercing Sirimi’s clan down from their village. Mr. Cook gained Sirimi’s people’s trust by giving them sugar, salt, rice, flour, tobacco, matches, clothes, axes and knives. Mr. Cook marked Sirimi’s father, Nanati, as the first village police officer in order to enforce law and stop tribal fighting. Mr. Cook even chose a wife for Sirimi’s father – Avarro, who later became the Chief of Sahuoté clan women and a revered barkcloth painter, and Sirimi’s new mother and painting teacher. Some of Sirimi’s Sahuoté clan designs are shared with artist Celestine Warina (Kaaru), Chief of Sahuoté clan women, as she is the granddaughter of Avarro. Sirimi has achieved the extraordinary by teaching a large group of young women artists the ancestral Sahuoté clan painting designs. This fortunate group includes his daughters and daughter-in-laws, Jessie Bujava (Kipora), Ivy-Rose Sirimi, Maureen Sirimi (Jafuri), Petra Ijaja (Jaujé), Barbara Rauno (Inasu), Agnes Bujava (Loréma) and Audrey Masé (Koren). The spirit of Avarro and Albert Sirimi and their important barkcloth painting legacy lives on through this new generation of artists and their exceptionally beautiful artworks.

DIONA JONEVARI (SUWARARI)

Diona Jonevari’s (c. 1979) mother was Delma Iarin of Gora village and her father was Abaho Gugonaymi of old Godibehi village (Ematé clan). When Jonevari married her husband Nathaniel Jonevari in 2002, she began to learn to paint the traditional Ömie designs of his mother Dapeni Jonevari (Mokokari), who was the Chief of Ematé clan women and a highly respected artist. Under Dapeni’s tutelage, Jonevari has become a respected artist in her own right. She incorporates sor’e (tattoo designs) taught to her by other elders of her clan such as her fatherin-law Emmanuel Jonevari (c.1920-2010) and Nathan Gama, Chief of Ematé clan men. As an astute student, Jonevari now draws from a wealth of traditional Ömie designs which she paints in her own innovative and expressive style. Her wealth of knowledge and extraordinary natural talent and skills firmly place her among the most significant Ömie artists.

ELIZABETH GUHO (OWKEJA)

Elizabeth Guho (c.1958) has been painting for Ömie Artists since 2009. Her mother was Martha Ruruvé of Gorabuna village (Sahuoté clan) and her father was Clement Towora of Enjoro village (Ina’e clan). Her mother taught her the Ömie barkcloth designs of her grandmother such as mahudanö’e - pig’s tusks (traditional Ömie wealth), jov’e avadu avaduvé - ripples of the water, samwé - Beriirajé/Samwé subclan emblem of the tree and vinohu’e - design of the bellybutton. Her wealth of knowledge and extraordinary natural talent and skills firmly place her among the most significant Ömie artists.

JESSIE BUJAVA (KIPORA)

Jessie Bujava’s (c. 1970) father is the Assistant Paramount Chief of Ömie men, Albert Sirimi (Nanati) and her mother was Agnes Sirimi, both Sahuoté clanspeople from Gorabuna village. Bujava was first taught to paint traditional Sahuoté clan designs by both her mother, Agnes, and her grandmother. Later, she was also taught by Albert Sirimi (Nanati). Along with Ömie artists Lillias Bujava (Kausara) and Barbara Rauno (Inasu), Jessie is part of a new and exciting school of Sahuoté clan painters whose designs are characterized by an excess of orriseegé or ‘pathways’. Orriseegé is most often used to provide a compositional framework for Ömie painting designs and it reaches its extreme limit in Bujava’s works where her traditional symbolic designs conform to a tight, yet organic, geometric format. She often paints siha’e, the design of the fruit of the tree and visuanö’e, the design of the teeth of the mountain fish.

JEAN NIDUVÈ (URIHÖ)

Jean Niduvé (c. 1987) is the daughter of Albert Sirimi (Nanati), the Assistant Paramount Chief of Ömie men. She is married to Marumo Niduvé. Ematé clan elder, Brenda Kesi (Ariré), remembered seeing Niduve’s mother-in-law painting barkcloth clan designs, and taught Jean to paint them in 2012. Over the past decade, 2012-2022, Niduvé has developed into an artist of exceptional skill and talent. The emergence and survival of her strong ancestral barkcloth painting designs is quite miraculous for the present day.

MAGDALENE BUJAVA (KOLAHI)

Magdalene Bujava (c. 1984) is the daughter of Emily Levoré, former wife of Eric Afukasi and current wife of Raphael Bujava. She began painting for Ömie Artists in 2012 (when she was known as Magdalene Afukasi). Bujava paints designs belonging to her father’s clan, Ematé, as well as her husband’s clan, Sahuoté. She is one of the leading Sahuoté clan painters with knowledge and painting skills directly related to the body designs of the ancient and sacred Ujawé tattooing initiation rite.

MALA NARI (MATOSI)

Mala Nari’s (c. 1958) mother was Waganami Togarino of Gora village (Saro’ore clan) and her father was A’oji Negunna of Godibehi village (Ematé clan). Nari has three children. Her husband, now passed, was Elo Nari. She was taught to paint Ömie designs by her grandmother and remembers watching her at Kërö village (an old village of Gora) as a young girl. Nari loved to sit with her grandmother and learn about Ömie history, the natural environment and how to nurture the land. Her main designs are: tuböru unö’e - eggs of the Dwarf Cassowary; dahoru’e - Ömie mountains; munë’e/hitai - river boulders; buboriano’e - beaks of the Papuan Hornbill; and odunaigö’e - jungle vines. From 1996 to 2002, before the arrival of David Baker and the formation of the Ömie Artists cooperative, Nari was instrumental in bringing about a revitalisation of barkcloth painting in Jiapa and Duharenu villages. She is a very strong culture woman and is well known across Ömie territory for her powerful singing voice. Her work was exhibited in the 17th Biennale of Sydney at the Museum of Contemporary Art and in the landmark exhibition of Ömie Art, Wisdom of the Mountain: Art of the Ömie at the National Gallery of Victoria International.

ELVINA NAUMO (EBAHINO)

Elvina Naumo (c. 1994) is the daughter of Mary Naumo, former Chief of Ematé clan women and a highly respected barkcloth artist. She was taught to paint certain designs from her mother before she passed away. Naumo is becoming an artist of considerable talent and ambition, often painting highly detailed designs on large scales.

MAUREEN SIRIMI (JAFURI)

Maureen Sirimi (c. 1997) began painting for Ömie Artists in 2021. She is the daughter of esteemed elder, the late Albert Sirimi (Nanati), who was the Assistant Paramount Chief of Ömie men and the only known male artist to have learnt from his mother formally. Albert Sirimi taught Maureen an extraordinary wealth of knowledge and nioge (barkcloth) designs from a very early age. These important designs originate from the former Duvahe (Chief) of Sahuoté clan women, Avarro—Sirimi’s great-grandmother. Sirimi now holds this precious painting lineage and, combined with her natural talent as a painter, she is one of Ömie Artists most exciting new artists carrying the Ömie’s sacred tradition of barkcloth painting into the future.

FAITH JINA’EMI (IVA)

Faith Jina’emi (c. 1957) began painting for Ömie Arists in 2012. She learnt to paint as a young woman from her mother Filma Rumono, Chief of Sahuoté clan women. Jina’emi is now a leading elder and cultural authority of the central region of Ömie territory. She paints her ever-increasingly complex and diverse ancestral designs with vitality and integrity. Her exquisite work and its recent developments are a very exciting and surprising addition to the unfolding Ömie Art movement.

PATRICIA WARERA (MATOMGUO)

Patricia Warera (c. 1985) began creating works for Ömie Artists in 2021. She is among the last artists holding knowledge of the ancient method of barkcloth art known as sihoti’e taliobamë’e (designs of the mud). This method of appliquéing mud-dyed barkcloth was first practiced by Suja, the first woman and mother of the world, as told in the Ömie creation story. Her grandmother, Brenda Kesi (Ariré), taught her to sew the ancestral Ömie sihoti’e designs, such as wo’ohohe - the burrow of the groundburrowing spider and its tracks. This precious lineage of sihoti’e nioge (mud-dyed barkcloth skirts) comes from her great-grandmothers, Go’ovino and Munne, who were Ematé clanswoman from old Enopé village between the Jordan and Maruma Rivers.

PAULINE-ROSE HAGO (DERAMI)

Pauline-Rose Hago (Derami), (c. 1968), is the daughter of Natalie Juvé, a Sahuoté clanwoman from Duharenu village who was also a barkcloth artist. As a young girl Hago was adopted by Wilington Uruhé, the Paramount Chief of Ömie men. She has been fortunate to have learnt the traditional Sahuoté soru’e (tattoo designs) from her father Willington as she is now the foremost painter of important designs such as: taigu taigu’e - leaf pattern; siha’e - tree fruit; jö’o sor’e - uncurling fern fronds; as well as vë’i ija ahe - bone of the lizard. Her talents as a painter have seen her travel to Sydney, Australia in 2009 with Dapeni Jonevari (Mokokari) to attend an exhibition of Ömie Art. She was married to the late Simon Hago and together they had four children.

Rosemon Hinana

Rosemon Hinana began creating works for Ömie Artists in 2022. She is an incredibly special and important artist as she is among the last artists holding knowledge of the ancient method of barkcloth art known as sihoti’e taliobamë’e (designs of the mud). This method of appliquéing mud-dyed barkcloth was first practiced by Suja, the first woman and mother of the world, as told in the Ömie creation story. There is a minimal and elegant restraint to her appliquéd mud designs which sets her work apart from hand-painted designs. She is also adept at painting Ujawé rite initiation body designs.

Pennyrose Sosa (c. 1976) first learnt to paint barkcloth designs from her mother Kiadora, who in turn learnt from her mother Suwo. These Gusi’e clan/Nyoniraje sub-clan designs are rarely seen and Sosa is now the foremost painter of these important designs. She was trained to paint further by the former Chief of Ematé clan women, Mary Naumo, in 2004. Pennyrose married the son of law-man Rex Warrimou and through matrilineal rights has also inherited very rare designs of the Dahoruraje clan, such as those painted by the late master painter Nogi, who is said to have lived for over 100 years.

WILMA RUBUNO (LAMAY)

As a young girl, Wilma Rubuno (c. 1969) was adopted by the late Cecilia Badaru, a Sahuoté clanwoman. Badaru was the daughter-in-law of a very important barkcloth painter, Avarro, who was a former Chief of Sahuoté clanwomen. In 2010 Rubuno’s mother, Cecilia, came to her in a dream, in which she was holding up a barkcloth painting and asking Rubuno “Can you see this design?”...Rubuno replied “Yes” and then her mother told her “This is your design now and you must paint this design”. The next day when Rubuno awoke she began painting the design. When the village Chiefs and elders saw the design she was painting they were very surprised because she was painting one of Avarro’s designs, that is, without ever having met Avarro. Rubuno has been very passionate about painting this important barkcloth design. Her painting style has developed to such intricacy, with a truly breathtaking delicacy, careful complexity and harmonious balance of designs, that her works dazzle the eye. She is the proud mother of six children.

BRENDA KESI (ARIRÈ)

Brenda Kesi (c. 1937) was a young girl during the turmoil of World War II. She also remembers the 1951 eruption of Huvaimo (Mount Lamington). Kesi’s mother was Go’ovino and her father was Valéla, both Ematé clans people from old Enopé village between the Jordan and Maruma Rivers. It was here that her mother taught her how to sew her grandmother, Munne’s, sihoti’e taliobamë’e - designs of the mud. This method of appliquéing mud-dyed barkcloth was first practiced by Suja, the first woman and mother of the world, as told in the Ömie creation story. Kesi has begun to teach her daughter, Patricia Warera (Matomguo) to sew the ancestral Ömie sihoti’e designs such as wo’ohohe - tracks of the ground-burrowing spider and taigu taigu’e - ancestral tattoo designs.