Happenings

The new temporary exhibition of the musée Dapper will provide the opportunity to discover the distinct roles of masks in Africa and their social and political meaning in the Carnivals of the Caribbean populations.

The Pinacothèque in Paris presents the most important archaeological discovery during the last decade in Mexico: the jade mosaic masks.
These exceptional masks, entirely restored by the most eminent specialists in Maya archaeology represents the faces of the deity. Created for the prestigious governors, of the maya cities, their mission was to guarantee them the eternal life after death.
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From ingenious tool to ornament, souvenir, and symbol of cultural revival, this exhibition explores the changing form and function of the Māori matau (fish-hook).
Without the technology to extract metal, Māori originally made their hooks from wood, bone, stone, and shell. Early European explorers considered matau ‘ill-made’ and ‘of doubtful efficacy’. In fact, the design was sophisticated and highly effective, as modern-day fishers have recently rediscovered.
Post-contact, Māori quickly integrated European tools and technologies with the traditional matau form that had served them so well. Meanwhile, bone and stone matau acquired new significance as highly collectible artefacts and, more recently, as personal adornment.
The exhibition features several exquisite examples of contemporary hei matau made from pounamu, ivory, and wood.
Discover the intriguing story of Māori matau and their many roles – from catching fish to symbol of cultural pride. Web site of the exhibition

With MAYA 2012: Lords of Time—a world première exhibition opening May 5th—the Penn Museum confronts the current fascination with the year 2012, comparing predictions of a world-transforming apocalypse with their supposed origins in the ancient Maya civilization. The exhibition is presented in partnership with the Instituto Hondureño de Antropologia e Historia of the Republic of Honduras.
The exhibition features more than 150 remarkable objects, including artefacts recently excavated by Penn Museum archaeologists at the site of Copan, Honduras, and on loan from the Instituto Hondureño de Antropologia e Historia. Website of the exhibition.

Long feared by their neighbours as notorious head-hunters, the Naga people live in the mountainous northeast of India. They recorded the stories of their lives and their world, not in ink on paper, but in a complex system of textile patterns, jewelry designs, and wood carvings–one that only they could read and understand. Artifacts collected in the old days are made to speak again; newly acquired ones document change and a return to their roots. And the Naga also talk about themselves, either addressing visitors directly or by singing songs in which the exhibits feature.

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.

Stolen objects: Collection of Antoine Ferrari de la Salle.
Please, contact us if you have any information: info@tribalartmagazine.com
Have a look at the stolen objects

Off the Walls: Art from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Agencies 1967–2005 traces the history of artworks given to or acquired by federal Indigenous agencies. Includes a collection of some 2000 works in the National Museum of Australia's National Historical Collection. This exhibition features work by internationally-renowned artists including Rover Thomas, Narritjin Maymuru and Fiona Foley. These works are part of a collection built over 40 years by government bodies dealing with Indigenous affairs.
Web site of the exhibition.

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.

Experience a fascinating new special exhibition at MIM featuring a vibrant African musical-instrument tradition. Sanza: African Thumb Pianos from the Collections of F. & F. Boulanger-Bouhière and MIM.
The exhibition showcases two hundred sanzas—thumb pianos (lamellophones or lamellaphones)—from a private Belgian collection, several pieces from MIM’s own collection, and others on loan from the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren, Belgium. The sanza is a rich component of traditional African music. Made with various combinations of vegetable fiber, wood, and metal, the instruments are played by storytellers, historians, and ritual leaders. Some sanzas feature beautiful symbolic motifs.
Web site of the exhibition.