Tribal Art in the Spotlight at the Parcours des Mondes in Paris
The 17th edition of the multi-venue tribal art fair Parcours des Mondes kicks off in the Beaux-Arts neighborhood of Saint-Germain-des-Prés in the heart of Paris on September 11. This year’s event brings together 64 international dealers in ancient and ethnographic art, many of whom are guest exhibitors in host galleries.
Nearly half of the participating dealers are showing important African pieces. Notable offerings include a marvelous Senufo mask with a rich patina from Ivory Coast, presented by Paris-based Galerie Nast; a Tsonga headrest from Mozambique, offered by Ben Hunter of London; and Penu mask decorated with kaolin and pigment from Gabon, tendered by Philippe Ratton, also of Paris.
Among the Oceanic highlights one finds an ornately carved Biwat flute stopper from Papua New Guinea, which is available from Brussels dealer Serge Schoffel, and a Vao Island mask from Vanuatu, brought by British dealer Wayne Heathcote. Stunning Asian works include a shaman’s mask from the Krasnoyarsk area of western Siberia, which is available from Martin Doustar of Brussels, and wooden Topeng mask representing Sita, from Bali, which is decorated with pigment and gold leaf. It is on offer from Jonathan Hope of London
“The beauty of these objects lies in their exoticism, and their capacity to transport us to another world,” says New York gallerist Adam Lindemann, honorary president of this year’s fair. While Lindemann has made a name for himself with gallery his Venus Over Manhattan, which specializes in modern and contemporary art, he has a personal passion for African, Oceanic, and Precolumbian works that, he says, was kindled during his graduate school years at Yale, where he was a classmate of renowned dealer Bernard de Grunne. “To appreciate these exquisite things requires a broader, aesthetic understanding. I happen to like to stretch my own personal appreciation of art, and this is one way I do it.”
The fair runs through September 16.
Launch Gallery: In Pictures: Gallery Highlights from the Parcours des Mondes in Paris
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