Discovery Collection: Karo Family #76

Discovery Collection

Piece #76 of 100

Portrait of a Karo family on the bank of the Omo River. The Karo is a small tribe living along the east banks of the Omo River in southern Ethiopia. Like many of the tribes in the Omo Valley, they paint their bodies and faces with white chalk to prepare for a ceremony, as a method of self-expression, to present the social hierarchical class in the tribe, to ward off illness or to attract the opposite gender. They use natural material obtained from local environment. The chalk is mixed with yellow rock, red iron ore and charcoal to make its color.