Hartu’e, sabu ahe ohu’o dahoru’e (shell necklace of the Ancestors, spots of the wood-boring grub and Ӧmie mountains) 2016

Nioge (barkcloths) are made by Ӧmie women from Oro Province, a coastal province in Papua New Guinea’s Southern Region. Marked with designs relating to the artist’s clan affiliations, nioge are worn ceremonially with bilas (ornamentation) such as shell and teeth necklaces, armbands, feather headdresses and scented plants. Here, Pennyrose Sosa brings these visual markers together, dividing her cloth into triangular shapes behind which a long shell necklace snakes its way. Sosa, who inherited rare clan motifs both from her mother and from her husband’s family, is a foremost custodian of the stories held in these complex designs.