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LEFT: Royal man’s headdress. Kuba;
Kasaï, DR Congo. Second half of the
20th century.
Vegetal fi ber, beads, textile, iron, earth, seashell
(cowries, conus), feathers (Senegal coucal).
Photo: Pierre-Olivier Deschamps/Agence VU’.
Tupuna Ancestors in Transit
TAHITI—The Musée de Tahiti et des Îles – Te Fare Manaha
is undergoing extensive renovation work, but has a
temporary exhibition open through September 20, 2020,
that is showing some of its pieces while it is closed. Tupuna
–> Transit brings together about 100 of the museum’s
most emblematic works representative of the art of
French Polynesia’s fi ve archipelagos. This reinstallation of
the museum’s collection allows the objects to be seen in
a new light and for visitors to accompany the tupuna ancestors
in their transition by evoking their histories, their
past lives as museum objects, and their culturally relevant
futures. This an interesting show with dual aspects.
It features art objects but also deals with the issues of
conservation, renovation, and restoration that are vital to
museum practices nowadays but are often little understood
by their audiences. This dimension of the exhibition
is unusual and informative.
MUSEUM NEWS
ABOVE: Initiation wig,
mánda hàre. Huli; Hela
Province, Papua New
Guinea. 20th century.
Hair, pigment, metal, beads, feathers
(superb bird of paradise), carapace
(cetonia beetle), vegetal fi ber.
Photo: Pierre-Olivier Deschamps/
Agence VU’.
RIGHT: Installation view of
Tupuna à Tahiti.
Coiffure, Coifs, and Hats
LYON—Headgear is in the spotlight at the Musée des
Confl uences in Lyon. Its present exhibition honors Antoine
de Galbert, founder of the famous and now muchmissed
Maison Rouge in Paris, by presenting his impressive
collection of coifs, headdresses, and hats, which he
donated to the museum. Hats and headwear are more
than fashion accessories and protection against the elements.
In many cultures, they denote status, rank, or
association and may have layered meanings. The
head is our intellectual center and seat of the
soul and the will, as many peoples have
understood. Decorating or covering
the head protects our very essence, which
undoubtedly is why nearly all cultures have
forms of head decoration. Nearly 350 pieces of
the 550 pieces that were donated are included in this
magnifi cent exhibition, through which the Musée des
Confl uences is thanking and honoring a collector and
a man of taste for this wonderful gift.
The installation is an extensive journey
through time and space, from ancient
Peru to twentieth-century Africa, “a
static voyage, an internal and mental
adventure” that highlights tremendous
human cultural and aesthetic diversity
through a simple object of daily
life. Hats off! ABOVE: Crown. Baule; Côte
d’Ivoire. Second half of the
20th century.
Velvet, wood, gold leaf.
Photo: Pierre-Olivier Deschamps/
Agence VU’.
LEFT: Young woman’s coif,
ekori (back view). Ovahimba;
Namibia. 20th century.
Leather, metal, grease, earth.
Photo: Pierre-Olivier Deschamps/
Agence VU’.