Ethiopia. Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region. Omo Valley. Turmi. Hamar tribe (also spelled Hamer). Pastoralist group. Robert Wolken, seated on the ground, is a professional piano tuner and takes care of Marc Vella's Yamaha Grand Piano. Marc Vella is a french musician and a nomadic pianist. Over the last 25 years he has travelled with his piano in around forty countries to celebrate humanity. Creator of “La Caravane amoureuse” (The Caravan of Love) he takes people with him to say “I love you” to others and “lovingly conquered” their hearts and souls. Hamer women indulge in elaborate hairdressing by decorating their hair with clay and butter twisted into a striking long plait. A young Hamer woman is covering Robert Volken's head with clay. The Omo Valley, situated in Africa’s Great Rift Valley, is home to an estimated 200,000 indigenous peoples who have lived there for millennia. Amongst them are 60'000 to 70'000 Hamar, an Omotic community inhabiting southwestern Ethiopia. They live in Hamer woreda (or district), a fertile part of the Omo River valley, in the Debub Omo Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region (often abbreviated as SNNPR) which is one of the nine ethnic divisions of Ethiopia. 10.11.15 © 2015 Didier Ruef


Hamar women wear an elaborately decorated goatskin, often colored with beads and cowries. Beaded necklaces, bracelets and waistbands adorn their bodies. They also wear thick copper necklaces announcing their marital status; a lather long tipped necklace and two copper necklaces if they are the first wife and only two copper necklaces if they are second, third, fourth wife to one man. Hamer women indulge in elaborate hairdressing by decorating their hair with clay and butter twisted into a striking long plait. The Omo Valley, situated in Africa’s Great Rift Valley, is home to an estimated 200,000 indigenous peoples who have lived there for millennia. Amongst them are 60'000 to 70'000 Hamar, an O