Summary

A grieving garment made whilst a female widow is in seclusion, mourning the loss of her husband. Fibre is prepared and twisted from the bark of local trees and Jobs Tears seeds (Coix lacryma-jobi) are collected from plants that grow close to rivers in the Oro Provincial region. The seeds are halved and thread onto the prepared fibre.
This garment along with a head covering (X 7434) were made in seclusion with the widow/s relatives and only worn in public once the seclusion period is over. The mourning garments embodied the intangible weight of grief and communicated to people that a widow was still in a period of mourning her husband whilst being physically visible in the village. The design and detail of each garment is individual to the grieving widow/s.

Physical Description

Garment made from twisted fibre from the bark of trees thread with halved Jobs Tears seeds (coix lacryma).

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