Happy Harvest Festival | Kotobian Tadau Tagazo Do Kaamatan
These days I am not in the mood to do a lot of things mostly because the school holiday is coming and Gawai Dayak and Kaamatan Festival are just around the corner. To my non-Malaysian readers, Gawai Dayak is a festival celebrated by the Dayak people in Sarawak, (Borneo) Malaysia and West Kalimantan, Indonesia. The day of the festival is on June 1st and is celebrated annually. I will not talk about Gawai Dayak today but will focus on the other festival, the Kaamatan or the harvest festival. Kaamatan is celebrated by the Kadazan-Dusun (and other ethnics) communities in Sabah, Malaysia. The festival is celebrated throughout the month of May but the highlight of the festival is on May 31st.
I am not a Sabahan but my husband, @voltranrex is. He is a Kadazan, the largest ethnic group in Sabah. So since tomorrow is Kaamatan, I will write a bit about it today. To be honest, I don't know much about the ritual part of this festival. There are several ceremonies that need to be performed by the Bobohizan (the Kadazan Priestess) during the whole month of May. These ceremonies include Kumogos ceremony, Kumotob ceremony, Posisip ceremony and several others.
Kaamatan is not just a celebration of the harvest but there is a significant reason why it is celebrated by the people.
According to the local legend, long time ago there was a great famine on the land. The food and water were scarce. The people were suffering and they cried out to their God Kinoingan who took pity towards them. Kinoingan then sacrificed his one and only daughter, Huminodun and sowed her flesh over the land so the paddy could grow. It is believed the Huminodun's spirit embodied in the rice and it is known as Bambazon.
The highlight of Kaamatan Festival on May 31st is the crowning of the Unduk Ngadau (a beauty pageant) that symbolizes Huminodun.
The portrait
This is a portrait of one of the Unduk Ngadau contestants this year. Her name is Nicole Alphonsus, from Karambunai. All of the contestants are very pretty but I don't know why somehow Nicole is my favorite. Here is the reference image for this portrait.
And here are the progress photos:
Thank you for checking out my post!
My previous posts:
Pencil Portrait | A Portrait For An Awesome Couple
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Thank you!
Stylish. That's all I could say about your drawings. Most article about art here in steemit, mostly involves just some drawings and a few explanations, but yours always had some background story which makes it more valuable. Great read as always. Thanks for sharing.
Well I tried LOL. I know what you mean by showing pictures but no background information. I found that to be boring too. That is why I try my best to include at least some explanation why I made my art or the inspiration behind it. It makes the post more interesting and worth following =)
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Very beautiful drawing
Thank you @hafizz
Dear Artzonian, thanks for using the #ArtzOne hashtag. Your work is valuable to the @ArtzOne community. Quote of the week: Art, freedom and creativity will change society faster than politics. -Victor Pinchuk
Beautiful... Love it!
Thank you @verasj :)