Madagascar, Arts de la Grande Ile, the exhibition at Paris Musée du Quai Branly: pictures

The Musée du Quai Branly is devoting a major exhibition to Madagascar, from September 18, 2018 to January 1, 2019, the first in France to question the Art History of the Big Island. For this major exhibition, over 360 objects will be brought together in the museum's spaces, chosen for their historical and ethnological interest.

The exhibition Madagascar, l'art de la Grande Ile on offer at the musée du quai Branly from September 18, 2018 to January 1, 2019 is an event. It's the first time since 1946 that an exhibition has retraced Malagasy traditions as a whole, questioning what remains for us to discover.

Discover the exhibition on video :

For this exhibition devoted to theart of Madagascar, more than 350 pieces have been brought together for their historical, aesthetic and ethnological interest, and inserted into a 3-section itinerary - the history of the island, the art of everyday life and sacred art, that which touches the spirit world.

The first part of the exhibition places Madagascar in a spatial context. Madagascar is a large island off the coast of Africa, a crossroads of civilizations offering an exceptional environment. Populations from Africa and Austronesia settled here between the 5th and 8th centuries, bringing rice, yams and coconut palms, as well as cattle, goats and sheep.

Thehouse's extensiveornamentation is thus revealed. Each room features carved wooden ornaments meant to protect the inhabitants and bring them luck: from the front door, to the bedrooms and kitchens. Belief in powerful forces is omnipresent: the Malagasy are accustomed to consulting an ombiasy, diviner and healer, who composes mohara remedies placed in ody amulets. The remedy is not meant to be drunk, but must be kept in the northeast corner of the house, considered sacred.

Another of life's high points is the death of a loved one. In Madagascar, the deceased are honored with impressive tombs. The funeral posts, aloalos, are carved with traditional motifs, human figures or figurative scenes that evoke the life of the deceased!

As a result, we (re)learn that Madagascar is a very large island, which for a very long time was a crossroads of influences from the African, Arab, Indian and South-East Asian regions. Everyday objects are made with great economy of means, "useful forms" subject to the vintana, the Malagasy zodiac, which defines the boundary between the living world and the world of spirits and ancestors...

A wonderful exhibition to discover this island!

Please note that it's been over 4 years since our last visit, so the place and experience may have changed.