66
BELOW: Pendant, talhakimt.
Tuareg, Niger. 19th century.
Carnelian.
© Musée des Confl uences, Lyon, inv.
2015.32.65.
Photo: Mathias Benguigui.
ABOVE: Installation view of
Les esprits, l’or et le chaman.
Nantes - Voyage à Nantes 2017.
© Bernard Renoux/LVAN.
ABOVE MIDDLE: Pectoral
in the form of a man-bat.
Tairona, Sierra Nevada de
Santa Marta, Colombia.
AD 900–1600.
ABOVE: Anthropomorphic
pendant. Quimbaya, Middle
Cauca Valley, Colombia.
500 BC–AD 700.
LEFT: Anthro-zoomorphic
pendant. Tolima region,
Colombia. 100 BC–AD 700.
Above three images © Museo del Oro
de Banco de la República (Bogotá).
Photo: Clark M. Rodríguez.
Spirits, Gold, and the Shaman
NANTES—To mark the occasion of 2017 as France-
Colombia year, the Museo del Oro of Colombia is presenting
a selection of more than 220 gold, gold alloy,
ceramic, and stone objects from its marvelous collection
of Pre-Hispanic artworks. At the Château des Ducs de
Bretagne until November 12, the exhibition explores
the symbols embodied in these objects—some of which
are more than 2,500 years old—and explores their ritual
uses. In Pre-Hispanic societies, gold was
considered to have great spiritual value,
and its many properties, such as color,
resistance to fi re, brilliance, etc., were
considered symbolic. Gold objects played
a key role in the rites of metamorphosis
practiced by chiefs and shamans.
Les Esprits, l’Or et le Chaman —Chefsd’oeuvre
du Musée de l’Or de Colombie
explores these indigenous societies’ conception
of nature and culture, as well as
the role of body painting and plants in the transformations
of shamans and their fl ights to other dimensions of
the universe. Questions of identity and transformation
are central to the exhibition. The visitor is invited to both
discover and view the world in a different way and to
question his own way of seeing his identity and that of
others when viewed through the shamanic lens.
Tuareg, Nomad Tales
LYON—Beginning October 17, 2017, and continuing
through November 4, 2018, the Musée des Confl uences
will challenge the stereotypes of the Tuareg. This Berber
people, who inhabit the central Sahara and its border areas,
is undergoing profound changes. They face many
challenges, among them drought, war, and localized
rebellion. Perceived by their Western colonizers as everything
from noble and chivalrous to bloodthirsty and
savage, the image of the Tuareg that was built up during
colonial times remains fi rmly rooted in many minds. In an
effort to dispel it, this exhibition reveals the Tuareg in all
of their complexity and dynamism. The fi rst part focuses
on the watercolors of Paul-Elie Dubois, known as the
“painter of the Tuareg,” as well as on archival documents
and popular items such as press clippings, old books, promotional
material, and movie posters. It then moves on
to the remarkable collection of jewelry and amulets donated
by the Masnat Association in 2015, which were
collected by its president, Jean Burner. These create an
immersive experience in the Tuareg aesthetic universe,
which is characterized by restraint, equilibrium, a distinctive
geometry, and a unique use of color. Excerpts from
poems accompany the presentation.
Finally, the exhibition examines how the Tuareg are
changing their traditional codes while at the same time
reaffi rming their identity. Like the jewelry they adapt to
Western uses, they are reappropriating
an idealized Western image to
diffuse their culture, to make their
demands known, and to enter into
a new form of resistance.
MUSEUM NEWS