Vaudou
05 April - 25 September 2011
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| Sculpture vaudou Fon, Bénin
Wood, sacrificial patina
43 x 14 x 11 cm
Courtesy Robert T. Wall Family |
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VAUDOU
5 April - 25 September, 2011
"FOR THE PRIMITIVE ARTS AND MOST NOTABLY FOR VODUN, THERE IS JACQUES KERCHACHE AND ONLY HIM.” ANDRÉ MALRAUX
The Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain will present for the first
time an exceptional group of vodun objects from the collection Anne and
Jacques Kerchache, in a scenography conceived by Enzo Mari, one of the
great masters of Italian industrial design. The exhibition is organized
in close collaboration with Anne Kerchache—today Mrs. Kamal Douaoui—who
was the wife of Jacques Kerchache until his death in 2001.
Jacques Kerchache and the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain
An artistic advisor and curator of exhibitions, Jacques Kerchache was a
strong advocate of the Primitive Arts, promoting their entry into
important French museum collections. It was under his initiative that
the Pavillon des Sessions was created at the Louvre in 2001, as well as
the musée du quai Branly in 2006. Jacques Kerchache also collaborated
with the Fondation Cartier on many occasions, first on the thematic
exhibitions À visage découvert (1992) and être nature (1998) as well as
on the solo show of the Haitian artist Patrick Vilaire in Réflexion sur
la mort (1997).
The Vodun, African Voodoo Exhibition
Following these collaborations, Jacques Kerchache and the Fondation
Cartier considered organizing an exhibition on voodoo statuary, but this
project was postponed after his passing in 2001. On the tenth
anniversary of his death the Fondation Cartier will uncover the
fascinating and secret world of voodoo that was Jacques Kerchache’s
lifelong passion. Through the Vodun, African Voodoo exhibition, the
Fondation Cartier will thus pay homage to this great expert and explorer
known for his exacting eye, a connoisseur of both Primitive and
Contemporary Art.
The Art of Voodoo
As early as the late sixties, Jacques Kerchache recognized the aesthetic
potency and stunning originality of voodoo statuary and its forms. It
was at this time, during his first trips to the birthplace of voodoo
currently known as the Republic of Benin, that he began to bring
together what has become the most significant existing collection of
African voodoo statuary. The exhibition will present approximately
hundred objects, including some that now belong to other private
collectors.
Objects of Religious Cult
An anthropomorphic assemblage of materials such as ropes, bones, shells,
and pottery, voodoo sculptures assume a critical role in the practice
of this ancient religious cult, still active today from the coasts of
Togo to Western Nigeria. Covered with a thick layer of matter includes
earth, palm oil and powder, these strange and uncanny sculptures emanate
qualities of tension and foreboding. Their ambiguous aesthetics are
closely linked to their role in both protecting their owners from danger
and harming those responsible for their difficulties.
Through its silent simplicity and meditative rigour, the exhibition will
allow these impenetrable objects to speak for themselves, thus
revealing the mystery and convulsive beauty of voodoo statuary.
www.fondation.cartier.fr
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