Photo credit: Hans Silvester
The Sacred Body Art of the Omo Valley
The Omo Valley people have lived in southwestern Ethiopia and neighboring Kenya and the Sudan for centuries. The landscape of the Omo Valley is very diverse: vast savannah with mountains on the horizon, beautiful views, the arid semi-desert, acacia bushes, hills and forests on the banks of the Omo River with its deep canyons and rapids.
The Omo Valley people still practice body painting and tattooing. A garland of flowers, a veil of seed-pods, buffalo horn, a crown of melons, feathers, stems and storks all could be used to express joy or celebrate a rite of passage. The wearer can sometimes takes on the characteristic of a supernatural state.
The West Harlem Art Fund in an attempt to preserve this tradition will re-create this body art work with Scherezade Garcia, sculptor and installation artist, that will be displayed at the African Burial Ground in Lower Manhattan, along with a dedicated blog site that features other artists for Armory Week 2012.
An evening of wine tasting will be held on Friday, March 9th at Lot 125 at 7p.m. Tour and artist talk at the African Burial Ground in TriBeCa, March 10th at 2 p.m.
Lot 125 is located at 566 W. 125th Street, New York, N.Y. 10027 (212) 663-9015.
African Burial Ground, 290 Broadway (btwn Duane & Reade Sts), New York, N.Y. 10007 (212) 637-2019
Sacred Body Art of the Omo Valley 