CURIOSITÉS Sarran—Faithful to the artistic tastes of the person whose name it bears, the Musée du Président Jacques Chirac is showing a new temporary exhibition devoted to tribal art, which will be on view through November. Curated by Valentine Plisnier, a specialist in primitivism in photography, Curiosités: Jardin Secret d’un Collectionneur (Curiosities: A Collector’s Secret Garden) immerses its visitors in the intimate universe of an aesthete with a highly trained eye honed by his professional experience as an antiques dealer, both in Paris and abroad. The exhibition is structured around views of the collector’s office through a selection of photographs taken by Vincent Girier Dufournier. The approximately three hundred works from many different periods and with varied provenances are presented in what at first glance appears to be a haphazard way. But while the approach taken in the display eschews any particular theme-based or typological organization, the arrangement of the works nonetheless follows a consciously elaborated plan that focuses on using contrasts and specific associations to elicit emotions born of the contemplation of beauty and the infinite possibilities of our imagination. THE ART OF EATING Paris—Cooking, eating, drinking—these activities may seem mundane to some, but they play an important role in such highly symbolic practices as marriages, births, initiations, and funerary rites. When ritualized, the act of eating becomes an activity that requires special utensils, as varied as they may be refined: dishes, bowls, cups, spoons, and ladles, to mention but a few. Food, the foundation for any group’s survival and its members’ well-being, also allows man to relate to the beings of other realms. Altars, votive statues, and other cult figures are all objects of libation and sacrifice—feeding—which are essential to successful communication with the spirit world. These practices and the multitude of objects associated with them will be the subject of the fascinating L’Art de Manger: Rites et Traditions (The Art of Eating: Rites and Traditions) exhibi- LOWER LEFT: Canoe figure. New Georgia, Solomon Islands, Melanesia. Private collection. © Hughes Dubois. tion at the Musée Dapper, on view from October 15, 2014–July 12, 2015. Using a rigorously selected group of objects, curators Christiane Falgayrettes-Leveau and Anne van Cutsem-Vanderstraete, working in collaboration with Gilles Bounoure, dissect the rituals and customs related to the act of eating, from the cultivation of starches to headhunting. Always in pace with the times, as a counterpoint the museum also will offer a reflection on the subject of “junk food” and access to nutrition through the works of Franco-Benin artist Julien Vignikin. BELOW: Bowl. Admiralty Islands, Bismarck Archipelago, Melanesia. Private collection. © All rights reserved. BELOW: Figurative vessel. Mangbetu, DR Congo. Private collection. © Dapper Archives and H. Dubois. BELOW RIGHT: A collector’s office. © Vincent Girier Dufournier.
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