Reveal and Remove. Uses of the body and its Ornaments in Mursiland

Abstract

The Omo Valley has become in recent years a prime photographic resource for reporters looking for rich body ornamentation. They often present this ornamentation as the simple, natural art of a people described as witnesses of the « dawn of humanity » (Silvester 2006, 2008; Szvardon 2006; Fisher & Beckwit 1990 and, for a critic, see Regi 2013). A few academic publications are attempting to challenge these stereotypes (Girke 2014). But, with a few exceptions, the importance of the aesthetic practices in use among the pastoral Nilotic societies of East Africa has been largely underestimated. The existing literature on body ornamentation among the Mursi focuses on the lip-plates (Turton 2004; Latosky 2006; Eczet 2012), which are certainly a famous emblem of the Mursi and their neighbours, the Suri. Kate Fayers-Kerr (2013) has also made an important contribution to Mursi studies, focusing on health and healing. In her study, she examines the actual processes of body painting with clay to show how substances are used and conceived in Mursi relationships with territory, rather than focusing on the social efect achieved by the paintings. James Faris’ book on the Nuba (1972) is the only work focusing on the ornamentation per se, though the author restricts himself to a formal and symbolical mode of analysis.