December auction of African and Oceanic art.
Striking Iron: The Art of African Blacksmiths, an international traveling exhibition that combines scholarship with objects of great aesthetic beauty to create the most comprehensive treatment of the blacksmith’s art in Africa to date. The exhibition will include over 225 artworks from across the African continent, focusing on the region south of the Sahara and covering a time period spanning early archaeological evidence to the present day. It features wood sculptures studded with iron, blades, and currencies in a myriad of shapes and sizes, diverse musical instruments, body adornments, an array of ritual accoutrements, tools and weapons, and other important objects that enabled Africans to forage and hunt, till the soil, and assure their own protection and prosperity. The exhibition will examine how the smith’s virtuosic works can harness the powers of the natural and spiritual world, effect change and ensure protection, prestige, and status, assist with life’s challenges and transitions, and enhance the efficacies of sacred acts such as ancestor veneration, healing, fertility, and prophecy.
Swahili coast artworks have been shaped by complex migrations across great distances, the formation of new empires, and the making and unmaking of communities and social identities. World on the Horizon explores Swahili arts as objects of mobility, outcomes of encounter, and as products of trade and imperialism. Works from different regions and time periods come together in this exhibition to reveal the movement of artistic forms, motifs, and preferences, and to reflect the changing meanings they may carry during the course of their life histories.
Through more than 350 pieces selected for their historical, aesthetic and ethnological interest, placed in their context, from ancient times to the contemporary period, the exhibition presents Malagasy art, history and culture. While they are often unknown, this exhibition aims to re-discover them through works and documents, old and contemporary, divided into three large sections.
This year the Wallace Collection opens its new £1.2 million exhibition space with Sir Richard Wallace: The Collector, an exhibition celebrating 200 years since the birth of the museum’s founder, Sir Richard Wallace. The exhibition explores the man, his life and his unprecedented contribution to the nation’s cultural heritage. A major international philanthropist and cultural luminary of his time, yet also an enigmatic and private individual, Sir Richard believed in sharing his inheritance with a wider audience. He was also a prominent collector, adding extensively to the Collection prior to his death in 1890. Featuring twenty works of art collected by Sir Richard, the exhibition explores his eclectic tastes and highlights some of the unexpected treasures of the museum, including a gold trophy head from the Asante Kingdom.
At MEG each exhibition is the promise of a trip. From May 18th, stopover in Africa, to discover the religious cultures of this continent. The exhibition 'Africa. The religions of ecstasy' reveals the richness of African religious practices. Throughout the journey, the public plunges into an atmosphere of mysticism and discovers the fervour of believers. More than 400 unpublished pieces from the MEG's collections are enriched by fascinating images of five internationally renowned contemporary photographers. The route of the exhibition reveals monotheistic religions (Islam, Christianity and Judaism), indigenous African religions, possession cults and magico-religious universes. Here, Africa is not seen as a geographical space, but as a cultural space. These religious practices are found even in the Americas and Europe, where they have been widely disseminated by the diaspora.
Connecting African art collectors with dealers and scholars, based on a foundation of knowledge about the origin, use & distinguishing features of listed pieces
Copyright 2018©