Happenings

***LAST DAYS***
From court dress to couture, the objects in Material World will feature extravagant ornamentation of textiles and personal adornment from cultures around the world while highlighting the significance of textiles in displaying wealth, status and power. The exhibition showcases items adorned with luxurious materials including gold and metallic threads, beads, shells, mirrors, semi-precious stones, bones, fur and feathers, ranging from a Buddhist bone apron to Dior and Chanel couture pieces, spanning several centuries to the present day.

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The fourth in a series of exhibitions presenting the Hood's extensive and varied holdings, Native American Art at Dartmouth surveys the breadth and depth of the permanent collection of indigenous art from North America, from the historic to the contemporary. Guest curators George Horse Capture, Joe Horse Capture, and Joseph Sanchez each contribute unique experience and perspective as well as a discerning eye in the presentation of the Hood's varied holdings of Native art.

This ground breaking exhibition features 250 artefacts that take you on a remarkable journey through the ancient world of the Maya. A collaboration between the ROM, Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History and the Canadian Museum of Civilization, this exhibition explores the entire world of the Maya, from the rule of Maya kings and queens to the lives of everyday people. As well, we explore the mysteries surrounding the puzzling collapse of the classical Maya civilization.

Gold treasures in the Skeppsholmen caverns.
The gold treasures of the Inca Empire are incredible phenomena which continue to stimulate our imagination and evoke a sense of adventure. Take the opportunity to see these legendary treasures in the majestic Skeppsholmen Caverns in Stockholm. Never before has such a large collection of objects from the Inca Empire and its predecessors been shown outside Peru. You will get the chance to see the latest and most significant archaeological finds, giving you an impression of the important role played by gold in Inca culture, as well as the extent of these riches. It was these riches that led to the decline of the Inca Empire with the Spanish conquest. The gold treasures are shrouded in mystery, and to this day – five centuries later – adventurers still search for the golden land of El Dorado.
Web site of the exhibition.

On January 24th, the Weltkulturen Museum in Frankfurt has celebrated the inauguration of its first exhibition in the newly refurbished villa at Schaumainkai 29.
Object Atlas - Fieldwork in the Museum presents objects from the Museum’s collections plus new works produced by seven international artists who undertook fieldwork in the Museum during 2011. Paintings, films, and three dimensional installations by Thomas Bayrle (D), Marc Camille Chaimowicz (UK/F), Antje Majewski (D), Otobong Nkanga (Nigeria), and Simon Popper (UK) are installed in close proximity to objects from Papua New Guinea, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Venezuela, Brazil and Peru. Helke Bayrle (D) and Sunah Choi (Korea) show a film shot in the Museum’s stores that investigates the figurative detail on over one hundred ethnographic artefacts.

Body adornment is a language all of its own, integrating each individual into their social and cultural environment.
Bodies that are tattooed, scarified, pierced, painted, stretched or adorned... all of these practices demonstrate the social position of the individual and their links with their community.
From the body painting of the Amazonian Indians to the nose jewellery of the Papua New Guineans, to the stretched skulls of the Amerindian peoples, to the superb Chinese Miao earrings... all of these are signs, whether visible or hidden, which allow men and women to express their relationship with the world.
Around 50 items (mostly from the Musée du Cinquantenaire collections) have been selected for their aesthetic quality as well as their ethnographic interest.
Please note! Although this small exhibition is open to all, in reality it is specifically designed for visually impaired and blind people, which is why only a limited number of pieces are on display.

Le Carré Plantagenêt, musée d'Archéologie et d'Histoire (Museum of Archaeology and History) in Le Mans, presents as from January 21st to April 22nd 2012 the exhibition "Rituals qnd World Music" in partnership with the " Centre du Patrimoine de la Facture Instrumentale" (The heritage Center of instrument)
Museum of the web site.

The ceremonial hats Sapuyung of Borneo is a temporally exhibition organised at the Museo delle Culture of Lugano in Switzerland. 35 out of 66 artworks are large ceremonial hats decorated by several patterns, buttons or feathers.
These artworks have been studied for the first time and collected during a 10 years research made on site in Borneo in the villages of the Ngaju's. These Sapuyung hats are divided into two categories. The first one is made of large pieces of "pandanus" and is used for farm works only. The second one is only made by women specialised in weaving and are dedicated to ceremonies. This exhibition highlights the several kind of Sapuyung with their numerous details.
Web site of the exhibition

Shapeshifting celebrates Native American ideas that have crossed time and space to be continuously refreshed with new concepts and expressions. Experience this vitality through sculpture, paintings, ceramics, textiles, photographs, videos and monumental installations drawn from collections in the United States, Canada and Europe.
Rarely seen historic pieces, shown alongside some of the finest contemporary works, demonstrate the diversity and continuity of Native American art and culture from 200 B.C.E. to the present.
Web site of the exhibition.

Kopf und Schädel in der Kulturgeschichte des Menschen. For the very first time, the Reiss-Engelhorn-Museums Mannheim dedicates an exhibition to the fascinating "skull cult", a unique and contemporary subject. Most of the art work are coming from the museum of cultures of Basle, some of them from the Mannheim museum and a a few from private collections.