ART on view sincere—rather than an intellectual response to the reading of didactic text will be what draws visitors to approach seemingly simple everyday objects with curiosity, allowing them to discover the complexity of an unknown world. Viewers are thus provided with keys that can help orient them but that still leave the greater part of the viewing experience to a personal encounter with the objects. The arrangement of the exhibition into two large conceptual spaces also gives the viewer a point of reference for understanding the cultures in question. There is the “water” section, which includes all the objects made of fi sh skin by the peoples of the Amur River Delta, and a “forest” section, which includes the pieces made of birch bark. These are two key elements that lend structure to an understanding of these cultures’ environment. T. A. M.: Does the aesthetic approach you take to the objects also have meaning in their cultures of origin? D. C.: Yes, of course, but not the same one it has for Westerners. The notion of art for art’s sake is foreign to the peoples of far-eastern Siberia. Bearing in mind that that object is used in day-to-day life, they judge the beauty of an object by the care with which it was manufactured and by its effi ciency as a vehicle for dialog with the invisible world—that of the spirits. The recognition of an object’s value also benefi ts its creator, who is then perceived as a person of greater value to society. To give a simple example, a talented seamstress will be an appreciated wife because she has knowledge and skill that is indispensable to her loved ones. After death, the most gifted seamstresses sometimes acquired a kind of legendary aura, and their abilities were sometimes transmitted through the family. 70 FIG. 13: Ritual bowl. Nivkh, Amur River basin, far-eastern Siberia, Russian Federation. Second half of the 19th century. Wood. Musée du Quai Branly, Paris. © MQB. Photo: Claude Germain. The Nivkh ritually consume “mountain men,” especially during the bear festivals. Success in hunting depends on this. By pouring food into the hollow of the dish, the belly of the bear is symbolically fi lled, sealing this necessary alliance. T. A. M.: You raise the idea of the creator. Was the creation of objects an activity reserved for a specifi c group of people? D. C.: In the societies we are dealing with here, the notion of the “artist” as we in the West know it does not exist. This is the realm of craftsmanship, of skill, and of knowledge that is transmitted from generation to generation within families. It is not viewed as a professional practice. In other words, every person can create objects for himself or for those close to him. However, the identity of the creator will vary according to the type of object. Women are responsible for all of the soft objects within the household, most notably clothing. Men work with wood and are responsible for making fi shing canoes. Sometimes men and women both work on the same project. This is particularly true of bark The Bear, Master of the Snow Forest One of the specifi c cultural traits of hunting and fi shing peoples living in the Amur River basin and on Sakhalin Island is their particular relationship to the bear, the master spirit of the snow forest. Their symbolic proximity to this mammalian salmon predator is illustrated by the number of local myths telling of bears as hunters that reveal their human nature when they remove their fur while out of sight of their dens. They are also ritually potent. As such, some of these peoples raise bear cubs and even breastfeed them until they are ready to be killed for great feasts in order for their spirits to return to the forest, charged with offerings. This ritual also provides the occasion for large gatherings that are essential for the sealing of alliances between village clans as well as those with the spiritual inhabitants of the forest, which provide essential game animals. FIG. 14: Bear spirit container. Nivkh, Sakhalin Island, far-eastern Siberia, Russian Federation. Late 19th or early 20th century. Wood. Musée du Quai Branly, Paris. © MQB. Photo: Claude Germain. Therapeutic spirit container intended to consume children’s maladies.
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