The festival was the true reason that pushed us to get to the other end of the world. About 10 km far from Wamena, a festival takes place every year in August, where men and women reminisce part of their traditions related to cooking, dance and tribal fights with spears and arrows. There are more than a thousand participants, all belonging to different tribes. Everyone wears their traditional ornaments such as bird feathers or animal bones, and cover their entire body with clay.
We were thrilled. We had the chance to meet an extraordinary ethnic group that, despite the issues with the Indonesian government (link to the article “the silent genocide in West Papua”), still tries to keep its traditions alive.
The festival is getting bigger and apparently better organized every year, and while this means it is becoming a bit more touristy, this is also a good sign for the local economy. Moreover it draws international attention on local traditions and the importance to preserve them.
The surprising aspect of the festival is that beauty here seems more important for men. Incredibly adorned, they constantly look at themselves in the mirror looking for perfection.
At the beginning I was intimidated while taking pictures: I was always afraid of disrespecting them until, to my great surprise, they asked me to take some pictures of them and, as vain as they are, also asked me to see how the picture turned out. There were many people beautifully dressed, each with a personal adornment. But there was one single element that united them all of the men: the horim. It is a sort of pumpkin with a long and pointed shape placed on the penis and held in place by two fiber rings, one around the scrotum and the other around the chest or abdomen. We even brought one home. You never know if Ale will ever want to dress up to make me a surprise one day….
The festival lasts for three days, we attended the first two. The first day we were among the first to arrive and the last to leave. It was also interesting to meet a professional photographer who was working on a project related to ethnic groups around the world that are slowly disappearing. If you’re curious, his name is Jimmy Nelson and his photo book is called “Before they pass away”.
