MUSEUM news 48 Aboriginal shield. Australia. 19th century. Musée d’Aquitaine. Photo: L. Gauthier © mairie de Bordeaux. Necklace with claw-shaped beads. Zenú, Colombia. 200 BC–AD 1000. Gold alloy. © Museo del Oro—Banco de la República, Colombia. TOP: Container, poporo, representing a seated woman. Quimbaya, Colombia. AD 600–1100. Gold alloy. © Museo del Oro—Banco de la República, Colombia. ABOVE: Anthropomorphic pectoral. Tairona, Colombia. AD 900–1600. Gold alloy. © Museo del Oro—Banco de la República, Colombia. collections. Together the objects build a discourse that questions the idea, so dear to art criticism, of the schism between tradition and modernity, which this exhibition seeks to present as inseparable creative forces. This is based on the observation that there has been a certain continuity, still quite apparent today, of certain forms, designs, and ideas in ritual Aboriginal art despite the profound transformations that Australian colonization brought about at the end of the eighteenth century. Conceptually, the exhibition includes a historical approach, and its first section explores the changes in Aboriginal art and culture that have taken place over time. The second part examines these transformations with an emphasis on new media and materials such as canvases, photographs, videos, etc. Two installations by Aboriginal artist Brook Andrew, a contemporary artist who is of Wiradjuri and Scottish descent, complete the presentation. BEYOND ELDORADO London—From the Spanish Conquistadors to DreamWorks Studio’s animated heroes Tulio and Miguel, and by way of Voltaire’s Candide, many have dreamed of El Dorado. Whether a utopia or a myth, the legend of this lost city of gold rests on a fascinating reality that the British Museum’s most recent exhibition explores. Beyond El Dorado: Power and Gold in Ancient Colombia, on view through March 23, 2014, begins with the ritual that is the origin of the notion of El Dorado, which means “the golden one.” In this ritual, which was celebrated at Lake Guatavita, not far from what is now Bogota in Colombia, an individual who was contending for power was covered with gold dust, dove into the lake, and emerged as a chief of the Muisca people. Using works found in the lake at the beginning of the twentieth century, including stone necklaces, ceramics, and artworks in gold, the exhibition presents nearly 300 pieces from the British Museum’s collection and from that of the Museo del Oro in Bogota, which has one of the world’s most important collections of pre-Hispanic gold. The exhibition sheds light on the history and complex relationships between the ancient cultures of Colombia—Muisca, Quimbaya, Calima, Tairona, etc.—over an extended period of time ranging from 1600 BC to AD 1700. A visit to the exhibition is also an opportunity to learn about the characteristic goldworking techniques of the region, such as the recurrent use of a gold and copper alloy known as tumbaga in the creation of works of unparalleled refinement. The symbolic properties of gold are also explored in depth. The prerogative of the elite, gold was an emblem of high rank and demi-god status. Gold was also associated with the spiritual realm, as the study of the iconography and use of objects made from it reveals. LIVING MEMORIES Bordeaux—Through March 30, 2014, the Musée d’Aquitaine is presenting Mémoires Vives—Une Histoire de l’Art Aborigène (Living Memories—A History of Aboriginal Art). It features 150 works by Aboriginal and non- Aboriginal artists, ranging from antique artifacts and bark paintings to acrylic canvases, photographs, videos, and installations, drawn from a variety of public and private
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