Shocking adornment

Pregnant woman from Mursi tribe, Ethiopia..... more

by Liudmila Di

Title

Shocking adornment

Artist

Liudmila Di

Medium

Photograph

Description

Pregnant woman from Mursi tribe, Ethiopia..

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From Wikipedia:

The Mursi (or Mun as they refer to themselves) are ethnic group that inhabits southwestern Ethiopia. They reside in the Debub Omo Zone close to the border with South Sudan. According to the 2007 national census, there are 7,500 Mursi, 448 of whom live in urban areas.

Lip plates are a well known aspect of Mursi people, who are probably the last group in Africa amongst whom it is still the norm for women to wear large discs or "plates" in their lower lips.

The lip plate, also known as a lip plug or lip disc, is a form of body modification. Increasingly larger discs (usually circular, and made from clay or wood) are inserted into a pierced hole in either the upper or lower lip, or both, thereby stretching it.

In Africa, a lower lip plate is usually combined with the excision of the two lower front teeth, sometimes all four. In many older sources it is reported that the plate's size is a sign of social or economical importance in some tribes. However, because of natural mechanical attributes of human skin, it seems that the plate's size often just depends on the stage of stretching of the lip and the wishes of the wearer.

Among Mursi people about 6 to 12 months before marriage the woman's lip is pierced by her mother or one of her kinswomen, usually at around the age of 15 to 18. The initial piercing is done as an incision of the lower lip of 1 to 2 cm length, and a simple wooden peg is inserted. After the wound has healed, which usually takes between two and three weeks, the peg is replaced with a slightly bigger one. At a diameter of about 4 cm the first lip plate made of clay is inserted. Every woman crafts her plate by herself and takes pride in including some ornamentation. The final diameter ranges from about 8 cm to over 20 cm.

Many recent sources claim that, for Mursi women, the size of their lip plate indicates the number of cattle paid as the bride price. These days, it appears that Mursi girls of age 13 to 18 decide for themselves whether to wear a lip plate or not. The lip plates worn by Mursi women have been instrumental in making them a popular tourist attraction in recent years
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Uploaded

February 20th, 2013