Roland Loomis (August 10, 1930 – August 1, 2018), known professionally as Fakir Musafar, was an American performance artist considered to be one of the founders of the

modern primitive Modern primitives or urban primitives are people in developed, or modern nations who engage in body modification rituals and practices inspired by the ceremonies, rites of passage, or bodily ornamentation in what they consider traditional cultu ...

movement.

Life

Born Roland Loomis, at age four he claimed to have experienced dreams of

past lives Reincarnation, also known as rebirth or transmigration, is the philosophical or religious concept that the non-physical essence of a living being begins a new life in a different physical form or body after biological death. Resurrection is a ...

which, along with his anthropological studies, influenced his interests in body modification. He served in the army during the

Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top:{ ...

, and was first married for a short time in the 1960s. In 1966 or 1967 he first performed a

flesh hook suspension Body suspension means the act of rigging a human body to hang from implements that have been placed through temporary perforations in the skin. A number of health concerns might be associated with the practice, such as excessive bleeding, faintin ...

, inspired by his viewing of anthropological works.Vale, V. and Andrea Juno (1989) '' Modern Primitives''. RE/Search, San Francisco. In 1977 he gave himself the name Fakir Musafar. In the 1985 documentary ''Dances Sacred and Profane'' he was shown walking while wearing a device that pressed many small skewers into his upper body, and hanging from a tree by hooks in his chest, in his modified versions of other cultures' sacred ceremonies. He was an extra ('Man in hotel room') in '' Die Jungfrauen Maschine'' (The Virgin Machine) in 1988, and in 1991 he appeared in ''My Father Is Coming'' as Fakir. He was featured in the 1989 book '' Modern Primitives'', which documented, propagated, and became influential in the modern

body modification Body modification (or body alteration) is the deliberate altering of the human anatomy or human physical appearance. In its broadest definition it includes skin tattooing, socially acceptable decoration (''e.g.'', common ear piercing in many so ...

subcultures. In 1990 he married Cléo Dubois. From 1992 until 1999 he published the magazine '' Body Play and Modern Primitives Quarterly'', which focused on body modification topics such as

human branding Human branding or stigmatizing is the process by which a mark, usually a symbol or ornamental pattern, is burned into the skin of a living person, with the intention that the resulting scar makes it permanent. This is performed using a hot or ver ...

, suspension, contortionism, binding, and modern piercing culture. He led "Fakir Intensives" training workshops on these topics in San Francisco.

Illness and death

In May 2018, Loomis announced on his website that he was suffering from terminal

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, mali ...

. He died on the morning of 1 August 2018. His death was initially announced in a public

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post by his wife Cléo Dubois, and later confirmed by an obituary in ''

Artforum ''Artforum'' is an international monthly magazine specializing in contemporary art. The magazine is distinguished from other magazines by its unique 10½ x 10½ inch square format, with each cover often devoted to the work of an artist. Notably ...

''.

Tributes

The Leather Archives and Museum, founded in 1991, has a Fakir Musafar exhibit as a permanent exhibit. In 1993, he received the Steve Maidhof Award for National or International Work from the

National Leather Association International National Leather Association International (NLA-I) is a BDSM organization, based in the United States with chapters in various cities in the United States and Canada. It was founded in 1986 as the "National Leather Association" (NLA), as a national ...

. In 2019, he was inducted into the Leather Hall of Fame, and he is also an inductee of the

Society of Janus The Society of Janus is the second BDSM organization founded in the United States (after The Eulenspiegel Society) and is a San Francisco, California based BDSM education and support group. The Society of Janus is nonprofit, volunteer run and is ...

Hall of Fame. The Berkeley University

Bancroft Library The Bancroft Library in the center of the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, is the university's primary special-collections library. It was acquired from its founder, Hubert Howe Bancroft, in 1905, with the proviso that it reta ...

and the

Association of Professional Piercers The Association of Professional Piercers is the oldest and longest running organization for professional piercing. History The Association of Professional Piercers was founded in the 1994 by Michaela Grey and colleagues. The first members were ...

also have large archives of his work in photography, published writings, workshops, and BodyPlay magazines. His memorial bench in Byxbee Park in Palo Alto reads "Body is the door to Spirit".

Bibliography

* Fakir Musafar: ''Spirit + Flesh'', Arena Editions, 2004,

Notes

References

Biography

National Geographic documentary Taboo

External links

Excerpt of interview
- Discusses modern primitives, from

RE/Search RE/Search Publications is an American magazine and book publisher, based in San Francisco, founded by its editor V. Vale in 1980. In several issues, Andrea Juno was also credited as an editor. It was the successor to Vale's earlier punk rock fanz ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Musafar, Fakir 1930 births 2018 deaths United States Army personnel of the Korean War American erotic photographers American people of Swedish descent BDSM photographers Body piercers Culture of San Francisco Deaths from lung cancer in California Modern primitive People from Aberdeen, South Dakota