Mursi Scarification. . .

As well as the artistic head-pieces that the Mursi people show off, another key factor which caught my attention was there interpritation of  'scarification'. EW!

Scarification is basically a design which is cut ONTO the skin, the excess is removed and once the design is finally healed, it is then cut back open for the skin to heal again. So by the end you are left with the design raised upon the skin due to however many times the skin has been cut. And to think I actually wanted scarification when i was 16, eughhh! The thought and process of it is disgusting, but to the Mursi people it resembles and signifies alot more.

It is usually the men which have it done, and like other tribes it is a marking of an enemy killed by them. So in a way, its to show how manly you are basically! Whereas some tribes paint onto the skin specified designs to resemble their tribe, the Mursi people use scarification for the same process. Personally I find the designs stunning, I think the end result of scarification is amazing as you can have anything done and the design is just raised, still the same colour of the skin, its just the process and getting to the end result which is gross!

To create a similar look, if I were to consider investigating into this more, I could use a form of art clay/wax to mold and place onto the body and then paint over to make it blend in and to look like the skin is raised.

these images I found from: http://flickrhivemind.net/Tags/mursi/Interesting

 

During todays lecture, we looked more into scarification, the meaning behind it and what it resmbled through Western Africa within different tribes. We watched an intriguing video on Youtube including the Benin tribe in Nigeria and what scarification meant to them. To this tribe, it was the norm for toddlers to be put through this grouling process on their faces to mark the sign of childhood, which was disturbing to watch as to us, who arn't used to this tribes traditions, was far too much for a little toddler to handle. Numerous of cuts sliced onto the face of a toddler is never nice to watch but this is a process which the people of the Benin tribe must go through to be excepted. Once they grow up, from the ages of 15-30 the same procedure is carried out but onto the stomach of the being to mark the acceptance of adulthood.