"This video is part of a month long residency at Weltkuren Museum
exploring male initiation rituals. Sepik River scarfication in Papua New
Guinea, Kayapo body art in Amazonian and UK teen rites – football,
boxing and tattooing. I was particularly interested in the Sepik River -
especiallythe relationship between the initiated boys and their maternal
uncle (not father) who supports them throughout the painful ceremony.
As in Kayapo culture it is this maternal uncle who also teaches the boys
the skills and knowledge they need to make the transition from boy to
man. When I looked at UK culture I found no such traditions and when I
spoke with male friends found that many struggled to think of a male
role model when a teenager, only one of the 25 men I talked with said
they saw their father or uncle as a role model. Instead they looked to
sportsmen and musicians as inspirations of manhood"
Still shots take by me....watch video here
