Red Hair

Charles Duvelle in Papua New Guinea
11x14 inches, pencils and spray paint on paper, 2020

Wame Igini Kamu is back in the list for the third straight year, that beautiful little ditty of a woman singing while washing her child. "The words rolling down her tongue like water," as Roots World quipped. I'm not so sure if there are any words in the song. I can sing along to all of the 1'45" of it, not using any words. (I'm sure if my impression of the song were offered to the singer she would get a good laugh out of it. But really, seriously, it sounds good superimposed. I should record it and post it here, one day.) This little (improvised I think) ditty has now passed the 100 points mark (meaning it entered the best 25 songs of 37 years counting.) I am so curious if the singer is named in the book The Photographs of Charles Duvelle. When it came out I ordered the music belonging to the book but didn't buy the book itself. I really want to read Duvelle's notes on the recording. I've now painted (or drawn) Charles Duvelle (1937-2017, France) four times. Oh...one more thing. I did notice it before but thought it was because of poor photographic reproduction quality, some people in Papua New Guinea have red hair. I just learned that Papuan children are born with red hair, and that with most it darkens when they get older. All the boys in the picture here have red hair save for one. And now I think of it...Sisiwa from the Solomon Islands also has red hair, she will be featured twice in this year's list of musical gems.