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Pacific Costume
Pushkar Mela India
Coptic Church Egypt
Pacific Survey
Polyfest 2011
Islam Egypt
Heiva Tahiti
Hacibektas Festival Turkey
Tongan King's Birthdays
Oil Wrestling Turkey
Sunnet Turkey
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Pacific Costume is a selection of photographs that represent traditional ceremonial costume in the Pacific and New Zealand.
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Pacific Survey is a selection of photographs taken in New Zealand and the Pacific that have featured in exhibitions and books by Glenn Jowitt
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Glenn first photographed Polyfest in 1981 and returned to photograph it in 1993, 1999 and now again in 2011. Polyfest has grown into an event with 200,000 visitors over 3 days and having 6 stages in operation at a time. The design of costume for the performers has become a vehicle for emerging designers and one is always amazed at the introduction of new ideas.
The Heiva Festival is the oldest dance festival in the Pacific and has a history of over a 100 years.The contests are best costume, choreography, performance and song. The Heiva and its history has been very important in the preservation of the performance arts of Tahiti and has had an influence on other countries in the region who where not so fortunate to have a tolerant colonising power.
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During various trips to Tonga Glenn has photographed Tongas' late King, Taufa'ahau Tupou IV. Glenn made two trips to Tonga in 2001 and 2003 and organised those to occur at the time of the King's birthdays.
Over recent years Glenn has documented the evolution of Pacific Island ceremonial and dance costume. King Tupou's birthday celebrations have provided an annual opportunity for the Tongan people to bring out their best performances and costume.
While doing research for the Festivals Rituals and Ceremonies portfolio Glenn discovered the Pushkar Mela. Glenn had published a book called Race Day in 1982 that presented horserace meetings in New Zealand in 1978. The idea of camel and horse racing in the desert Indian style appealed. 30,000 animals are traded at the Mela, with camels being the most abundant.
The town of Pushkar has a lake much revered by the Hindu people, and during the Mela a dance is performed to honour the godhead Krishna. It is said that Krishna used to dance with the local virgins here. The dance has became known as the Dance of the Virgins.
In research for the Festivals Rituals and Ceremonies portfolio Glenn made contact with the Egyptian Coptic church in Sydney and gained contacts to enable a visit to the Coptic monastery Amba Bishoy while in Egypt.
The Egyptian Coptic church was of interest because it is the oldest Christian church, having begun in 56AD and Amba Bishoy has a church dated 356AD. Over the years the Coptic people have had to endure all sorts of social, environmental and religious hardships. The monastery Amba Bishoy has survived this and has along with other Coptic organisations made many useful developments in agriculture.
In doing research for the Festivals, Rituals and Ceremonies portfolio, Glenn came across an annual Egyptian festival in honour of a woman called El Saida Nafissa. There is a mosque built in her name in old Cairo and the festivities go on for three days. As tradition has it El saida Nafissa was a moslem mother who, in her time, taught the practice if Islam
In doing research for the Festivals, Rituals, and Ceremonies portfolio Glenn investigated the Festival of Hacibektas. This festival celebrates the life of Hacibektas, an Iranian Dervish prophet who came to Inner Anatolia in the 13th century. Hacibektas encouraged cultural growth and stated that a community could not progress unless it gave equal opportunities to women and men in running all aspects of their community.
While researching for the Festivals Rituals and Ceremonies portfolio, Glenn came across the sport of oil wrestling in Turkey. Much like rugby in New Zealand oil wrestling has a season and villages have teams of different weights.
At the end of a wrestling season there are National Championships and these were held at Erdirne when Glenn photographed it in 1986. The use of olive oil to add to opponents' problems was an amusing spectacle and the whole field became slippery.
While researching the Festivals Rituals and Ceremonies portfolio, Glenn explored the Sunnet (circumcision) ceremony, practiced in Turkey. He saw similarities with the Haircutting ceremonies for boys in the Cook Islands and Niue. On visiting the mosque of Sultan Eyub, Glenn was introduced to Sunnet through Dr Kemal Ozan. Kemal supported Glenn in his photographic enquiry, sharing the Turkish culture and allowing him to photograph Sunnet operations. He took Glenn to Silet, where Kamel performed 48 Sunnet operations on village boys for free. With Kemal, he also was privileged to attend the first annual celebration of "Turkish Women", at the Yildiz Palace in Istanbul, as a complement to the essay on the boys.
While researching the Festivals Rituals and Ceremonies portfolio, Glenn explored the Sunnet (circumcision) ceremony, practiced in Turkey. He saw similarities with the Haircutting ceremonies for boys in the Cook Islands and Niue.
On visiting the mosque of Sultan Eyub, Glenn was introduced to Sunnet through Dr Kemal Ozan. Kemal supported Glenn in his photographic enquiry, sharing the Turkish culture and allowing him to photograph Sunnet operations. He took Glenn to Silet, where Kamel performed 48 Sunnet operations on village boys for free.
With Kemal, he also was privileged to attend the first annual celebration of "Turkish Women", at the Yildiz Palace in Istanbul, as a complement to the essay on the boys.
