IDENTITIES Lille—The Musée d’Histoire Naturelle in Lille continues to pursue its dynamic temporary exhibition projects policy 48 with the presentation of Identités – Trésors Ethnographiques du Musée d’Histoire Naturelle (Identities – Ethnographic Treasures in the Museum of Natural History), which will be on view from June 28, 2013–January 5, 2014. Eighty-four major works from the museum’s collection, rarely seen by the public, will be featured in an exhibition that explores cultural diversity. This is an ambitious project and one that will strive to explore the foundations of the concepts of culture and plurality, and the question of the birth of ethnography as a discipline will be a focus. Ornaments, weapons, and both ritual and utilitarian objects will illustrate a wide variety of beliefs and ways of life, and the themes of cultural relativism and the coexistence and cohabitation of diverse peoples will be examined. FABRICS OF OCEANIA Aix-en-Provence—The Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle in Aix-en-Provence is devoting an exhibition to Oceanic textiles, which will run from June 29–October 6, 2013. Its focus will be the pounded bark tapa cloths that are ubiquitous throughout Oceania, and it will feature works from private collections as well as from the museum’s holdings. The various types of tapa cloth, as well as their manufacturing techniques, will be examined, and the exhibition will also include tools used to produce them, such as beaters, backboards, and matrices. The museum’s ethnographic collection, which was once significant, was unfortunately decimated in the course of a brutal move before the Second World War. Since 1996, the museum has pursued an active acquisitions policy, as is evidenced by its aquisition of Tahitian garments as well as of Pygmy and Yanomami utilitarian objects. A HOUSE FULL OF INDONESIA Leiden—Until July 21, 2013, the Rijksmuseum voor Volkerkunde is presenting Een Huis vol Indonesia – De Liefkes Collectie (A House Full of Indonesia – The Liefkes Collection), an exhibition honoring keen-eyed collector emeritus Frits Liefkes, who was also a curator at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and who left nearly 1,000 objects from all over the Indonesian Archipelago to the Leiden Museum in 2010. The objects, ornaments, and weapons of gold, as well as the textiles, furniture, and ritual objects presented, are grouped together in three categories: body ornaments, spatial decoration, and the sacred and ritual sphere. All of the objects testify to the great aesthetic refinement of the cultures in this part of the world, ranging from Aceh in the west to Irian Jaya (Indonesian New Guinea) in the east. The exhibition concludes with a section devoted to the collector himself, whose finely honed sensibilities led to the acquisition of many unique pieces, such as a gold box from Madura containing betel nut paraphernalia. A catalog in English will be published to accompany the exhibition. LEFT: Head from a canoe prow. Maori, New Zealand. Muséum d’histoire naturelle de Lille. BELOW: Gold bracelet. Indonesia. Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde, Leiden. BOTTOM RIGHT: Gold vessel. Indonesia. Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde, Leiden. RIGHT: Barkcloth. Tonga. Museum d’histoire naturelle d’Aixen Provence. Photo © Franck Marcelin.
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