Exhibitions

Exhibition

Exhibition - Zombis. Death is not the end ?

Far from « The Walking Dead» and « World War Z», this exhibition reveals the fantasies, beliefs and fears behind the figure of the world's most famous 'undead'. Forget everything you think you know about zombies... A world away from the contagious undead of cinema and pop culture, the exhibition takes you to Haiti on the trail of a genuine myth. While the word 'zombie' (nzambi) is of African origin, designating a spirit or ghost of the dead, its meaning evolved considerably as it crossed the Atlantic during the slave trade, carried by the combination of traditional African, Caribbean and Catholic beliefs. In Haiti, the figure of the zombie takes shape on the fringes of Vodou culture through the practices of its secret societies – notably the bizango society – whose judicial role gives it the power of zombification. Tried and convicted, the zombie is in reality a criminal deprived of freedom, enslaved and kept in a stupor in the service of a master (bokor). Between fact and fiction, the exhibition reveals the realities behind the fear of this iconic 'undead'. The exhibition explores the construction of the myth in the Western collective imagination, from its evocation in 1697 in the novel by French writer Pierre-Corneille Blessebois to George A. Romero's legendary film, Night of the Living Dead. Romero's legendary film Night of the Living Dead. From Tuesday 08 October 2024 at Sunday 16 February 2025
Exhibition

Exhibition : EX AFRICA

1984, MoMA de New York : l’exposition Primitivism présente plus de 200 pièces d’Afrique, d’Océanie et d’Amérique aux côtés d’œuvres signées Picasso, Matisse, Nolde ou Giacometti. Elle place ainsi les arts extra-occidentaux en position de fairevaloir des avant-gardes occidentales qui leur auraient conféré leur statut d’œuvre d’art. C’est le point d’entrée de Philippe Dagen, commissaire de l’exposition Ex Africa, qui commence par rappeler que la notion de primitif demeure indissociable de la colonisation de l’Afrique et de l’appropriation par l’Occident de ce qu’il a très longtemps appelé « art nègre » et réduit à de beaux jeux de formes sans chercher à en com - prendre les significations et les symboles. Au fil d’un parcours explorant la création contemporaine sous toutes ses formes, l’exposition examine les relations qu’entretiennent la création actuelle et les arts africains anciens. Quelle mémoire commune est-elle au travail dans les ateliers d’Annette Messager, ORLAN, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Chéri Samba, Alun Be, Théo Mercier ou encore Emo de Medeiros ? Que sont devenues les références africaines désormais classiques dans le monde de la consommation visuelle mondialisée ? Comment ont-elles repris vie ? Quels sens politiques ou sociaux peuvent-elles porter quand elles sont réactivées par Myriam Mihindou, Kader Attia, Romuald Hazoumè ou Pascale Marthine Tayou, qui ont créé pour Ex Africa des œuvres nouvelles ?
Exhibition

Exhibition Golden Thread

From the Maghreb to Japan, a fabulous journey through time and space, discovering the mysterious and fascinating origins of gold and its marriage with the textile arts. The world's most precious and noble metal, an object of envy, a symbol of wealth and splendour, a sign of elegance and refinement... Discovered nearly 7,000 years ago, gold has never ceased to fascinate mankind. The ultimate material for all kinds of expertise, experimentation and tradition, it has been used since antiquity to make jewellery, ornaments and weapons. As early as the fifth millennium B.C., it was used to embellish the first luxury fabrics for men of power. Over the centuries that followed, skilled weavers and craftsmen Roman, Byzantine, Chinese, Persian and then Muslim used the most ingenious techniques to create veritable fabrics of art where silk or linen fibres were intertwined with gold threads and strips. From the first ornaments sewn onto the garments of the deceased to the flamboyant dresses of contemporary Chinese artist Guo Pei that are found throughout the exhibition, from the gold-woven silks of the Indian and Indonesian worlds to the glittering kimonos of the Edo era, this exhibition reveals the age-old history of gold in the textile arts. In a dialogue combining scientific discoveries and artistic perspectives, it unveils the dazzling beauty, diversity, richness and the technical nature of the outfits of a vast region from the Maghreb to Japan, including the countries of the Middle East, India, and China.