A GLIMPSE OF PARADISE Hamburg—The Museum für Völkerkunde is currently showing Blick ins Paradies—Südsee Erleben in Historischen Fotografien (A Glimpse of Paradise: Experiencing the South Seas through Historical Photographs). The exhibition, which will be on view until December 31, 2014, consists of photographs of Polynesia from colonial times selected from the museum’s archives, as well as from private collections such as those of Eduard Arning, who lived in Hawaii from 1883 to 1886, and the Godeffroy family. The photographs are the work of both professional and amateur photographers and depict, not surprisingly, idyllic scenes that bring paradise to mind, but also include images of work on plantations, anthropometric portraits, studio photographs, etc., all of which unveil the complex reality of the vast area under Western domination. The exhibition also sheds light on the importance these distant places had in the city of Hamburg’s commercial development at the turn of the twentieth century. A bilingual English and German catalog appeared last February, which will be a welcome addition to the library of anyone interested in the subject or in retaining the historical references and frequent beauty that the exhibition’s images display. Left: J. S. Kubary, photograph of Chief Puapua with his entourage, Savaii, Samoa. Archives of the Museum für Völkerkunde, Hamburg. Reproduced with the kind permission of the Museum für Völkerkunde, Hamburg. Above: E. Neuhaus, portrait of Fai Atanoa, 1896. Archives of the Museum für Völkerkunde, Hamburg. Reproduced with the kind permission of the Museum für Völkerkunde, Hamburg. Right: Group of Neolithic masks, c. 9000 BP. Reproduced with the kind permission of the Israel Museum, Jerusalem. Left: Woman with bicycle photographed in French Polynesia, c. 1897. Archives of the Museum für Völkerkunde, Hamburg. Reproduced with the kind permission of the Museum für Völkerkunde, Hamburg. FACE TO FACE Jerusalem—The Israel Museum will feature an exhibition titled Face to Face: The Oldest Masks in the World from March 11 through September 11, 2014. Curated by Dr. Debby Hershman, the show will be a first in many respects, as the 9000-year-old stone masks that are its subject— twelve of which are known—have never been brought together before, even on their home territory. The project is the fruit of ten years of research, which began with the fortuitous discovery of photographs depicting two masks, one from Nahal Hemar in the Judean desert and another from Horvat Duma in the Judean Mountains, that are similar to the Neolithic masks in the museum’s collection. A series of inquiries followed which identified several more masks of this type, which are characterized by their hollowed out ocular orbits, open mouths, and lateral perforations probably intended to hold locks of hair, in collections in various parts of the world. Research based on stylistic and iconographic analyses was complemented by sophisticated archaeological research at the universities of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem conducted to confirm their origin and authenticity. This also resulted in a better understanding of their function, which was probably associated with religious or ritual contexts.
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