62 Visitors will have the opportunity to admire major pieces from the Musée Royal d’Afrique Centrale in Tervuren, which is closed for renovation at the moment but has agreed to make major loans to the Dapper for this exhibition. As it always does, the museum wants these older works to resonate with contemporary art, so it will simultaneously host an exhibition of creations by Romuald Hazoumé, whose well-known “masques-bidon,” or “jerrican masks,” represent both a continuation and a fertile reinvention of African traditions. JEWELRY FROM THE ROOFS OF THE WORLD Sarran—Colette and Jean-Pierre Ghysels are tireless collectors and have been all over the world for forty years, searching for the most sumptuous jewelry, ornaments, and ethnic decorations. The result of their efforts is what is undoubtedly one of the most important private collections of its kind. With the presentation of Bijoux des Toits du Monde, de la Chine au Caucase—Collection Ghysels (Jewelry from the Roofs of the World, from China to the Caucasus—The Ghysels Collection), which features a selection of Asian objects from the Ghysels Collection, the Musée du Président Jacques Chirac invites its visitors to follow the Silk Road and to explore the summits of the Himalayas. Nearly 200 pieces of jewelry from Mongolia to Central Asia by way of Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal, Northern India, Afghanistan, and Pakistan are on display until January 5, 2014. Whether of silver or gold that holds amber, coral, turquoise, or other precious stones, these refined creations both embody and retain the memory of the traditions of peoples whose traditional cultures are undergoing change. MUSEUM News Left: Mask. Lega, DR Congo. Musée Royal de l’Afrique Centrale, Tervuren. © Photo de Roger Asselberghs, MRAC Tervuren. Center: Romuald Hazoumé, Fang, 2012. © Romuald Hazoumé. Courtesy André Magnin (Magnin-A, Paris). Above: Wedding headdress. Yomud, Turkmenistan. Silver, partially gilded silver, carnelian. Photo: Mauro Magliani, © Fondation Baur. This exceptional crown is adorned with stylized bird heads that recall the pre-Islamic times. It belonged to a family of Khan. Left: Mask. Bembe, DR Congo. Private collection. © Archives Musée Dapper and Hughes Dubois. INITIATION, CONGO BASIN Paris—While initiation can be considered a universal cultural practice, the African continent is probably where it is most varied and widespread. The liminal moments of adulthood, birth, death, or even change in social status are among the events that are marked and controlled by societies that ritualize their occurrence. Such initiations are rites of passage, the associated tests of which are often frightening and sometimes painful. Those who endure them emerge forever changed and improved. Because it touches the very foundations of the cultures it concerns and serves to transmit their deepest beliefs, initiation is an eminently secret rite. However, objects from these cultures combined with anthropological field work have shed light on the visual and spiritual richness of these traditions. Disrupted by colonialism as well as by the requirements of modern life, today many of these practices have either partly or completely disappeared. What remains are the striking artistic expressions—masks, figures, protective objects, costumes, and ornaments—that are associated with their occurrence. Initiés, Bassin du Congo (The Initiated: Congo Basin), on view at the Musée Dapper in Paris from October 9, 2013, through July 6, 2014, is an homage to the material and immaterial richness of the initiation rituals of the peoples of Central Africa, which is expressed through the presentation of a selection of old and fine art objects drawn from private and public collections.
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