85 mutual encounter and a reciprocal gaze between the work and the viewer. That understanding of the gaze becomes literal in this exhibition: When you look at these works, they are explicitly looking back at you, the beholder, turning you equally into something beheld. The exhibition encapsulates these concepts in an introductory section that features a group of masks with different approaches to the gaze (fi g. 2), from inward-directed eyes of spiritual reverence (fi gs. 3 and 4) to spiritually projecting eyes of power and protection and multiple eyes for heightened vigilance and awareness (fi g. 5). This section also offers two examples of specifi c cultural concepts of vision—the above-mentioned ojú inú, embodied by a remarkable openwork Yoruba Gelede mask (fi g. 6) and a Sufi concept called batin, which refers to “the hidden side” of every visible reality. The latter is exemplifi ed by a Mano hornbill mask (fi gs. 7a and b), which has esoteric mystical writings on the interior surface, enhancing its abilities to protect the community and enabling the performer to achieve a state of spiritual transcendence. This introductory group is followed by eight sections organized according to themes, each of which addresses an aspect of vision that enables transitions from one life stage to the next and from one state of being to another. These are installed in the largely open plan of the Renzo Piano–designed Resnick Pavilion and, though identifi ed by wall text and chat panels, fl ow into one another in a fl uid manner, blurring the barriers between them and allowing the visitor to catch the eye of certain objects without being forced through a predetermined path. The fi rst of these sections, “Envisioning Origins,” explores how works of art render distant pasts as visible realities to be revered and performed in the present. Dogon peoples of Mali, for example, have long preserved a culture of rich philosophical insight, often expressed through a range of sculptural genres. In this section, the ambiguous hermaphrodite with beard and breasts appears to be gazing beyond this world to another place and time, and it embodies visions of ancient beginnings (fi g. 8). Chi wara headdresses are also presented here, silhouetted in a dramatic line formation (fi g. 11). Danced in male/female pairs by young Bamana men desig-
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