The Aura

NOT FOR SALE

80 x 120 cm  –  Oil on canvas

Another painting inspired from one of my father’s photos taken at the Elgeyo Marakwet ceremony that he was invited to in the 1950s. Note the stiff goat leather skirt he is wearing, decorated with round beads made from ostrich shells. I have read that only the Turkana wore these types of skirts. Indeed Joy Adamson noted in her book “The Peoples of Kenya” that the Pokot adopted many of the decorations and habits of the Turkana in those times.

This Pokot’s leopard skin cape is another sign of the past when the Pokot were known as the Suk, a name given by the Maasai for the short knife “chuk” worn by the Pokot. The headdress is made from ostrich feathers that are fixed into tight holes made from animal gut that are placed into the clay cap on his head. The “gut tubes” are put into the clay when it is still wet and in the making.

As this chief paraded with the other Pokots, Elgeyo and Marakwet people a sun ray came down onto him as he held his head high – the aura.