Transcript Les Tribus De L'Omo - The Painted People of the Surma and

Les Tribus De L'Omo - The
Painted People of the Surma and
Mursi Tribes in Southern
Ethiopia - Photos by Hans
Silvester
In the Omo Valley of
Southern Ethiopia live
many tribes of people
who use amazing
body art to adorn
themselves for
enjoyment and as an
artistic expression.
They use flowers,
leaves, twigs and face
and body paint made
from natural pigments
such as red ochre.
The tribes people re-paint and re-decorate their bodies up to
three times a day, the way we might change outfits. Their
body decor often incorporates intricate and beautiful
headpieces or “hats” constructed of natural materials.
The people of the Surma and Mursi tribes are body painters: they paint their bodies with
pigments made from the earth as an immemorial and quotidian practice – mothers paint
babies, children and adults paint themselves and each other in a tradition that seems
unchanged for thousands of years.
Their paintings range from abstract designs of circles, lines, dots and swirls, sometimes
focused on specific body parts, to all-over patterns of flowers, zig-zags and fingerprints
that form a dazzling array on the entire body. White, yellow, orange and ochre; the
natural pigments that they use are derived from the soil and rocks of their surroundings.
The tribes’ daily paintings are an essential expression of their lives – more elemental to
them than music or dance. Fascinated by the Surma and Mursi tribes’ painting practices
and astounded by the beauty of their ephemeral art, Silvester captures the diverse and
extraordinary effects that they achieve through their ancient tradition.
Hans Silvester,
Artist/Photographer
1938 Born in Lorrach,
Germany
Hans Sylvester photographed for six years tribes of the Omo
River across Ethiopia, Sudan and Kenya, in Africa. It is a volcanic
region providing an immense palette of pigments, ocher-red, white
kaolin, copper-green, luminous yellow and ash-grey.
Natural Fashion
How is our culture
similar to these tribes?
Why do you think
people in any culture
want to decorate their
bodies?
Some may use zebra skins for
leggings, snail shells for necklaces
and clay to stick their wonderful
designs to their heads.
As they paint each other's bodies and
make bold decisions about their
outfits(all without the aid of mirrors), it
seems that the only thing that
motivates them is the sheer fun of
creating their looks, and showing them
off to other members of the tribe.
As a celebration of themselves and of
their stunning environment, this is truly
an African fashion parade like no
other.
Read more:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/articl
e-516490/Out-Africa-The-incredibletribal-fashion-inspired-MotherNature.html#ixzz168e6UadS
Resources
• http://www.artnet.com/galleries/exhibitions.asp?gid=143
541&cid=145958
• http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-516490/OutAfrica-The-incredible-tribal-fashion-inspired-MotherNature.html#ixzz168e6UadS
• http://www.storyculture.com/blog/2009/01/hans-silvesterethiopia-painted-omo-tribe-photographs.html
• http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B02E3D
B103EF935A1575AC0A96E9C8B63