The Five Continents Gallery at the Louvre

 

Royal lefem statue from Cameroon  19th C Wood 

The Louvre has recently reopened the Gallery of Five Continents. Restructured by architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte, the gallery was first opened with President Chirac's approval in 2000. It now includes European artifacts, alongside those of the other four continents. The aim is to give a fresh perspective on what was once called 'primitive art' and to create a dialogue between the 5 continents. The head of the Louvre, Laurence des Cars, and the head of Musée Quai Branly, Emmanuel Kasarhérou, have spent four years planning it. The statue above is a symbol of the ruler's power, brought out at funerals or ceremonies of succession. A further emblem of power is the imposing Moai head from Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile), one of the ancestral figures which were thought to protect the island's inhabitants:

Moai sculpture from North of Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile) 11th to 15th C  Volcanic rock

The display is laid out by themes, not in a traditional chronological or geographic way. The fifth continent which has just been added- Europe- provides a dynamic contrast with its Greek heritage. In the 'How to show Authority' section there is a marble statue of Aelius Caesar, adopted by Emperor Hadrian as his successor in 136 A.D. His physique is idealised, draped in his military cloak:

Aelius Caesar Italy 136-138 A.D. marble

As a contrast with Caesar, from the island of Malo, North East of Australia, comes the following figure of authority:

High-ranking man from Malo 19th C. wood, pigments

The section on Birth and Death contrasts a jolly-looking Spanish Virgin Mary and Child with various African mothers and child:

Virgin and Child  Aragon, Spain ca 1300 wood, with modern polychrome

Jolly perhaps, but the symbolism in the Christ child's touching of the red rose petal alludes to his future sacrifice. In a mother and child from Cameroon, the accent is on fertility. The mother's hairstyle indicates that she is the mother of twins. She represents abundance:

Maternity Bangwa sculptor Cameroon 19th C Wood

 Echoing the above statues is Isis, the most famous of Egyptian goddesses. She feeds her son Horus, magically protecting him against evil forces, 

Isis breast-feeding her son Horus  Egypt (664-332 B.C.) bronze

My personal favourite of all the statues on show is a terra cotta female figure from West Mexico. She was the poster girl for the original gallery in 2000. Her body paint makes reference to Chupícuaro cosmology and fertility rituals:

Feminine figure by Chupícuaro artist  600 B.C. - 200 A.D. West Mexico 
painted terra cotta

The architect responsible for the first state - Jean-Michel Wilmotte- was asked to come back and reconfigure the rooms, to create the spatial conditions for the dialogue between continents. The space lends itself now to a wide open contemplation. There are no mountings on the large show cases. The glass is extra fine and the explanatory cards, in French and English are placed at a distance on the walls. This spreads out the visitors and avoids traffic jams. Nothing is more infuriating than trying to study a work while bending bodies block the view! A curious dog made of nails, which was thought to track down and neutralise bad spirits, comes from the Congo:

 

Medium-dog (nkisi nkondi) 18-19th C Wood, metal, pottery

It may be argued that many of these artefacts have been taken from their context, robbing them of their meaning, and are being held up as curiosities for Western eyes, a legacy of colonialism. In recent years several objects have been restored to the countries concerned. The following work was given back to the Nigerian government in 2003, but has been loaned to the musée du Quai Branly as an important historic work of art of the Nok culture:

 

Figures bearing a serpent above agricultural scenes 500B.C. - 500A.D. Nigeria
terra cotta

The serpent is associated with rain. Water and fertility have ever been important to belief systems. War is another factor in certain figures. The statue below wears an animal-head helmet and may have carried a standard or weapon. It is from Mexico:

Male sculpture from the huaztec culture, stone,  1300-1600  Mexico 

Behind the warrior figure is a reminder of death in the small skeletal body:

Nearby, a Western warrior- the duke of Savoy- is a small plaster copy of the monumental  bronze statue in Turin. The House of Savoy was instrumental in the founding of Italy. The dynamic equestrian statue is from the Romantic period of the 19th Century:

Emmanuel-Philibert de Savoie by Charles Marochetti  ca 1838

It is understandable how 20th C. artists such as Picasso and Derain found indigenous artefacts a refreshing change from Western art and used them as inspiration. Picasso appreciated the magic contained in such figures as the shoulder mask from Guinea representing a fertile woman:

Shoulder mask (d'mba) from Guinea end 19th/beg 20th C.
wood with copper alloy nails

Such a mask would have been worn on the head and shoulders during ceremonies, as a representation of fertility and abundance.

In this display of world artefacts, the information panels complete the visitor's experience by providing interesting background details of their provenance. The mask below, for example, was first acquired in Alaska by American collector Adam Hollis Twichell. Later, passing through the New York American Indian Museum (1922) it came into the possession of  French Surrealist writer André Breton:

 

Fish mask (Salmon) by yu'pik artist beg. 20th C. Alaska  wood, pigments, feathers

Such a mask, half-fish, half-human reflects the fragile balance between humans and the animal world.

A contemporary artist, Marlėne Dumas, was commissioned to place a suitable work at the entrance to the gallery. From South Africa but living in the Netherlands, Dumas has imagined a set of nine faces. They are ambiguous- part realistic, part mask-like. They possess an individuality while also appearing like archetypes:

Marlėne Dumas: Liaisons 2025  

Dumas chose the title 'Liaisons' suggesting a link between peoples. Her usual method of working is to accumulate images, photos for example and let herself be inspired by them. Her medium is thinly applied paint on paper. The blue face at the top right she calls 'Hannibal'; it was inspired by a work in the Louvre:

Marlėne Dumas: Ceramic Silence or Dark Blue Hannibal, Liaisons series 2025

It looks like a mask giving an astonished scream. 

It is charged with an energy felt in many of the works on show in the gallery:

Divine effigy from Hawaii 18th C. 
vegetal fibres, mother of pearl, feathers, dog teeth.

The new Five Continents Gallery at the Louvre is accessible via the Porte des Lions (Lions' Gate) across from the Carrousel arc de Triomphe. This is a convenient way of entering the Louvre, avoiding crowds. A new staircase leads up to the Spanish and Italian paintings. 

Louvre Museum

Metro: Palais Royal

Open 9am to 6 pm Wednesday to Monday. Closed Tuesdays.

Late opening until 9.45 pm on Wednesday and Friday

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