General Suri Project Background
Artist Statement
The Kibish and the Future. The small Kibish River is a critical water source for nearby Suri. On the right bank is a massive stone pier for a future bridge over the river; so far, there is no comparably sized connecting road. This pier is a harbinger of coming development encroachment challenges. Ngamɔri, the Suri youngster crouched on top of the pier, will likely experience those challenges.
Reverence is a feeling of deep respect, tinged with awe.
Growing up in Southeast Asia within missionary communities, I was infused with reverence and with empathy for cultures and communities not my own. Born in Thailand, I spoke Thai before English. By the time I graduated from high school, I had attended fifteen different schools in five countries.
Over the past decade, I have resumed traveling the world, most recently visiting remote areas in southern Ethiopia’s lower Omo Valley. While there, I developed a deep respect – even awe – for the proud Suri people and their eloquent adornments based on local natural materials. With these black and white portraits, I celebrate the beauty and strength of these people and affirm our shared humanity. I present them in black and white to highlight the core personal and artistic character of my portrait collaborators.
The Suri paint their bodies in intricate patterns, using natural pigments ground from local rocks and mixed with water. Clay or wooden earlobe discs and lip plates extend the Suri body canvas. Many Suri wear discs in their stretched earlobes. Women of marriageable and child-bearing age often choose to wear lip plates. Carefully sculpted scar patterns are another popular adornment for Suri women. Beyond providing opportunities for play and creativity, this body art fulfills other social functions, such as attracting a partner. Body painting with clay, chalk, ochre or ash can even have medicinal or protective benefits. These longstanding traditions, still practiced with whimsy and freedom, are an integral part of Suri life.
Suri parents name their children with a word or phrase triggered by the circumstances at or soon after a birth. These name choices can provide fascinating glimpses into the local culture. The names usually begin with a special prefix: “Nga…” for girls, “Bar…” for boys.
Suri territory is remote and difficult to reach, the number of outside visitors low. Especially in the last twenty years or so, sessions with visitors can bring out even more Suri body artistry, including creative extensions of the traditional adornments and further imaginative additions, using natural materials like flowers, fruits, grasses, shells, or animal skins. Among Suri teenagers these days, playing with these more recent adornments can be a source of fun, though still with some outsider influences.
This small ethnic group (with fewer than 35,000 members) faces significant stresses, including externally from encroaching and often ill-conceived development projects and competing ethnic group neighbors, including from South Sudan. During the coronavirus pandemic, the visitor flow ceased; the economic impact has been serious. I am inspired by the resilience and grace I found in these proud people and will be sharing the proceeds from this work with Suri support groups.
Setting the Scene
The lower Omo Valley of Ethiopia hosts a vibrant cultural tapestry, including numerous small ethnic groups with a wide range of languages and traditions. Suri territory is west of the Omo River and spans the Kibish River in the east.
The valley’s prehistory is rich, earning it designation as a World Heritage Site. Fossils found at the Omo I and II sites on each bank of the river have been dated to about 195,000 years ago and are the earliest known evidence worldwide of our Homo sapiens species.
Historically, the Omo Valley and its inhabitants were largely self-sufficient and isolated from the rest of the country and the world. In recent decades, however, the Ethiopian central government has increased its presence in the area, including by promoting development measures, like internationally owned industrial scale plantations along the river and a major dam. The Gibe III dam, when fully commissioned, will be the third largest hydroelectric plant in Africa. The Gibe IV dam is under construction downstream, with Gibe V planned, as well. The Gibe dams and the intensively irrigated plantations are substantially impacting the lives of lower valley ethnic groups.
The eastern side of the Omo Valley has a longer history of accessibility and resulting outside visitors and influence. One of the most visible ethnic groups there, the Mursi, have much in common with the Suri, both in language and traditions. The Kara and Hamar ethnic groups, further south, share language and cultural heritages. The Kara, however, is a much smaller group than the others. Also, their livestock emphasis is almost entirely on sheep and goats, versus cattle.
Acknowledgments
Oryx Photo Tours (oryxphoto.com) organized the fine tour that introduced me to the Suri; the tour was splendidly led by Marius Coetzee, Mike Dexter and Henok Tsegaye. All three were patient and helpful fielding my questions after the tour, as well. Henok, on the ground in Ethiopia and with contacts among the Suri, was especially generous with his aid. I thank my creative and talented Suri portrait collaborators and look forward to catching up and working with them again when I return to Kibish in October, 2021 (COVID willing).
Jon Abbink is Professor of Politics and Governance in Africa at Leiden University in the Netherlands and Chair of the Researchers' Assembly of the African Studies Centre Leiden, as well as a prolific, insightful author of Suri-related books and articles. Mike Bryant of SIL International has dedicated more than two decades to working with the Suri, helping to define and then apply the written Suri language. Both Jon and Mike were gracious and thorough in responding to my emailed questions. They also co-authored, along with Suri colleague Daniel Bambu, the definitive book on Suri culture and language. Ulrike Beyer, who spent 18 years in Ethiopia as an advisor to the Suri Literacy Project, was helpful as well, especially in pointing me to the video and partially translated primer mentioned above. EECMY kindly authorized me to use Literacy Project materials in my work. The Suri Ethiopia website has copies of some of those items (including the Suri Amharic English dictionary, in case you’re interested!).
Talented designer Elisabeth Atjay helped me create the poster elements in this collection, using drawings and stories from the Literacy Project to complement the portraits of my Suri collaborators, further illuminating Suri language and culture.
Selected References
Abbink, Jon, Bryant, Michael and Bambu, Daniel. Suri Orature: Introduction to the Society, Language and Oral Culture of the Suri People (Southwest Ethiopia). Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag, 2013.
Clack, Timothy and Brittain, Marcus (editors). The River: Peoples and Histories of the Omo-Turkana Area. Oxford: Archaeopress Publishing, Ltd.: 2018.
Verswijver, Gustaaf and Silvester, Hans. Omo Peoples & Design. Paris: Éditions de La Martinière. 2008.