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Re: body art- this is amazing
just stunning -
Re: body art- this is amazing
I'm wondering how much is real, and how much is directed and oposed to create commercial intrest?Comment
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Re: body art- this is amazing
and would any of it be pandering for the camera? they cannot be that original and creative on their own? of course they can have traditions and a sense of asethetics that is radically different from our own. look at our carnival...
you are judging them from western eyes...Comment
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Re: body art- this is amazing
Our carnival?
what carnival?
you mean the carnival that Byron Lee died trying to establish in Jamaica against the country's will?
the only place where jamai use to have carnival was on Ring road and the sport field up UWI and it was a Trinidadian thing.
Byron Lee always go to Trinidad every year.
all of a sudden he tried to kill Reggae with carnival.
well it still don't work because they are still losing money off it.
Jamaica don't have a carnival
It is poor excuse for carnival they have been trying to establish in Jamaica for the last decade..<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Nylah</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
and would any of it be pandering for the camera? they cannot be that original and creative on their own? of course they can have traditions and a sense of aesthetics that is radically different from our own. look at our carnival...
you are judging them from western eyes... </div></div>Comment
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Re: body art- this is amazing
once again you miss the point. i wasnt talking specifically about jamaicans......
and ppl say I am pendantic...
anyhow:
<span style="font-style: italic">Culturally, the Omo’s de&#64257;nition of beauty and self-worth is radically different from the Western ideals I grew up around. Spiritually,they are human vessels brimming with the Spirit, very much akin to the folks of my childhood. They are anchored between the ground and the sky, &#64258;anked by yesterday and tomorrow. Looking into their eyes, I found myself in an intensity of spiritual re&#64258;ection I was familiar with. Each subject’s face, countenance, accessories, decorative paint, scari&#64257;cation or tattoos and piercing was merely the starting point.</span>Comment
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Re: body art- this is amazing
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Dr.Dudd</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I'm wondering how much is real, and how much is directed and oposed to create commercial intrest? </div></div>
No, Dr. Dudd, this is all "real", going back maybe 1000's of years.
A friend of mine used to work as tourist guide in Kenya, Tanzania and did a trip to Ethiopia. I saw her slides of there which were absolutely amazing. I travelled in Kenya myself and saw the Masai, Samburu, Pokot and Turkana tribes.
I have the book by Angela Fisher "Africa Adorned". Love it! Has stunning photos from the whole African continent.
Check out the photos on this link!
and this one:
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Re: body art- this is amazing
oh dear... *meow*Comment
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Re: body art- this is amazing
Absolutely AMAZING!!...truly LIVING art!....I'm totally blown away by the creativity of these people...would love some of the photos to frame for my walls!
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Re: body art- this is amazing
just went thru this again.
thanks for sharing JY
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Re: body art- this is amazing
<span style="font-weight: bold">Ok so just to clarify if people looking for more information, these are Surma and Mursi peoples of the Omo Valley in southern Ethiopia.
This is an article from the NYT about the photographer</span>
HANS SILVESTER
Painted People
Marlborough
545 West 25th Street, Chelsea
Through Oct. 11
At once revelatory and disturbing, these color photographs taken over the last five years by Hans Silvester, a German photographer, document the extraordinary body painting of the Surma and Mursi peoples of the Omo Valley in southern Ethiopia. Semi-nomadic warriors, they live primarily by keeping large herds of cattle; their only Western accessory seems to be the Kalashnikov rifles they trade with Sudanese tribes.
They paint themselves or one another two or three times a day, using pigment made from earth or ground stone mixed with water. Executed quickly, the abstract, vibrantly patterned motifs reflect a sophisticated vocabulary of mark-making, finger-painting and hand-printing techniques; they extend across faces and sometimes center on a single feature, like a breast. They function as personal decoration, cultural expression and, when ash and cattle urine are added, insect repellent. Mr. Silvester says these people's interest in their painting supersedes any in sculpture, mask making, music or dance.
Mr. Silvester's pictures are almost exclusively closely cropped views of painted torsos, which objectify the subjects and enable us to look at them without them looking back. Yet the ephemeral art we encounter is humbling; it further erodes the idea of abstraction or painting as Western forms. They become basic human traits, expressed here with a skill that accrues through daily practice from childhood on. I'm grateful to learn of their existence, but can't help wondering what, if anything, art-world attention might bring them. ROBERTA SMITH
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Re: body art- this is amazing
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> it further erodes the idea of abstraction or painting as Western forms. They become basic human traits, expressed here with a skill that accrues through daily practice from childhood on. I'm grateful to learn of their existence, but can't help wondering what, if anything, art-world attention might bring them</div></div>
interesting pointComment
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Re: body art- this is amazing
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: seemiyah</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> Mr. Silvester's pictures are almost exclusively closely cropped views of painted torsos, which objectify the subjects and enable us to look at them without them looking back. </div></div>
that struck me as well. also, i would have liked a bit more context - is the body art related to special ceremonies, or are they part of everyday life? also, i think some of doctor dudd's question is valid - has some of this become part of a tourism attraction? i wouldnt blame them necessarily if that's the case - folks gotta eat.
i actually tried to get some more information about the Omo Valley peoples who practice this art and found very little online. there was more info about the people where the women wore lip discs as a sign of beauty - and it turned out that the influence of modern times has lessened this, young girls don't quite see it the same way anymore and don't want to wear the discs (involves extracting two of their bottom teeth then inserting progressively larter discs into the bottom lip.)Comment
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