ART on view Aesthetics of the Amur Bark, Spirals, and Scales in the Decorative Arts of Far-Eastern Siberia 64 Interview by Elena Martínez-Jacquet Concurrent with the COP21 World Conference on Climate Change in Paris from November 30–December 11, the Musée du Quai Branly will present Esthétiques de l’Amour, Sibérie extrême-orientale (Aesthetics of the Amur: Far-Eastern Siberia) in its East Mezzanine gallery. This will be the fi rst in-depth exhibition to explore the aesthetic dimensions of the decorative arts of the peoples of the Amur River basin, Sakhalin Island, and Hokkaido. These artworks reveal the relationship between these men and women and their environment. The works featured—some 150 utilitarian objects, including protective garments, boots, bags, dishes, accessories, etc.—are among the highlights of the museum’s Asian art collection, enhanced by a few loans. Above and beyond the differences in form and material—including fi sh skin, bark, and wood—in their composition, these objects testify to an aesthetic sensitivity that is common to every people, as well as to the great attention paid to a decorative tradition that is rooted in a well-conceived combination of material, texture, color, and refi nement of line and curve. Daria Cevoli, ethnologist and curator of the Musée du Quai Branly’s Asian collection, is the driving force behind this Object notes by Daria Cevoli unique exhibition, which will be on view from November 3, 2015, until January 17, 2016. We met with her just before the show’s installation began. Tribal Art Magazine: This will be the fi rst time that Siberia will be the subject of an exhibition at the Musée du Quai Branly, yet the museum’s holdings in this area are quite extensive. Daria Cevoli: Indeed—extensive and historically signifi cant. The Siberian material is among the oldest and best documented in the Musée du Quai Branly’s Asian department. Most of the objects were collected at the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth by French exploratory expeditions, partly sponsored by the Société de Géographie de Paris, which were conducted along the Trans-Siberian route and in areas that were FIG. 1: Poster for the exhibition Esthétiques de l’Amour, Sibérie extrêmeorientale at the Musée du Quai Branly, Paris, November 3, 2015–January 17, 2016. © Musée du Quai Branly.
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