| GOLD FROM AFRICA | |||||||||||||||||||
|
from the private collection René and Denise David in cooperation with Galerie Walu Zurich 15 February to 27 May 2001 | |||||||||||||||||||
|
top Ashanti Soul Disk with Islamic influences back 12.5 cm bottom Baule Mask Pendant Symbol of power H: 9.5 cm View of the Exhibition |
||||||||||||||||||
|
What could be best summarized with the term "other art", "outsiders' art" is the new view that has been considerably expanded through the media, which has led today to an increased interest in non-European cultures, the art of Africa and Latin America, but also many other phenomena as well. The New Gallery of the City of Linz has repeatedly presented exhibitions corresponding to the broadening of horizons mentioned above and a multicultural aesthetic perspective (for instance the major Federal Province Exhibition "Ursprung und Moderne", 1990). With "Gold from Africa" the New Gallery presents a show that is specific and yet highly diversified, that is artistically and culture-historically unusual. As a museum exhibition with over 200 individual objects, the exhibition is a premiere both in Austria and beyond its borders. The opportunity to examine the objects in a way that is unprejudiced and spontaneous, yet also with the appropriate background knowledge and requisite curiosity, emphasizes the intention of making a little-known chapter of African art and culture accessible to as many interested people as possible. In addition to the royal gold jewelry of the Ashanti, insignia and ceremonial objects, there is also jewelry from everyday use on display. The gold works from Ghana and the Ivory Coast are essentially from the period of the last 150 years, although a few of them are older and date back, in one case, as far as 400 years. What we encounter in the exhibited works is an incomparable treasure of forms and richness of design. The clarity, simplicity and elegance of many of the "designs" indicates a surprising proximity to modern jewelry and design principles, an elementary affinity between old and new, between yesterday and today. The originals on display in showcases, some of them on open display, are arranged according to subject groups and aesthetic principles, and they are supplemented by photos, material documentations and audiovisual aids. It is a large and yet intimate exhibition of extraordinary discoveries and new insights! Peter Baum | |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||