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GD56
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hanau | Legs are spread out horizontally, as if illustrating the concept of spreading out - i.e. multiplying, growing. Metoro sometimes said hanau at this type of glyph, a word which basically could mean 'to see the light', to be born, the miracle of a new spark of life, hana. | ||||||
A few preliminary remarks and imaginations: 1. This kind of sitting posture seems to be associated with procreation.
"In A Girl Rings her Boyfriend, a woman who wears traditional dress, including a fiber apron and feather headdress, uses a payphone to talk with her boyfriend. Closer examination reveals her polished nails and a bag that looks like a striped bilum but is worn like a Western-style handbag, signs of her boldness that are just as obvious as placing a telephone call to a man. The displayed posture in which she sits, often used to depict female ancestors as images of fecundity and prosperity, seems incongrous, perhaps underscoring Towa's perception of the inappropriateness of her behavior." (The artist Oscar Towa is from Papua New Guinea and the quotation from D'Alleva.) |
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