Summary

A grieving head covering 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 the thousands of Jobs Tears seeds (Coix lacryma-jobi) are collected from plants that grow close to rivers in the Oro Provincial region. These seeds would be halved and thread onto the prepared fibre. The covering also features parrot feathers and shells.
This head covering along with a garment ( X 284) 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 in her village that she was still in a period of mourning her husband and was able to retain a level of privacy with the veiling of her eyes whilst being physically visible in the village. The design and detail of each garment is individual to the grieving widow/s.

Physical Description

Cap or head covering worn by widows made of twisted bark fibre, threaded coix seeds (jobs tears), parrot feathers and shells.

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