African Art Club

Vatican Museum launches exhibit with 80,000 ancient artifacts

Important exhibtions in the US and in Rome makes us discover very old artifact from the Missionary-Ethnological Museum, which has about 80,000 artifacts from ancient civilizations, from the Americas, Asia and Africa and lets us discover some lost cultures

January 8, 2013. (Romereports.com) When people think about the Vatican Museums, most immediately think of the Sistine Chapel and the priceless work of Michelangelo. But what’s often overlooked are a series of other wonders. Among them is the Missionary-Ethnological Museum, which has about 80,000 artifacts from ancient civilizations, from the Americas, Asia and Africa. In fact it was Pius XI who pushed for its creation back in 1926.

FR. NICOLA MAPELLI 

Kraftfigur aus der Yombe-Region, Anonymus, Dem. Rep. Kongo, 2.Hälfte 19. Jhd.

In 19th century Europe, African works of art were still seen, at best, as curiosities. It was the German explorer Leo Frobenius, who at the end of the century was one of the first to recognise the aesthetic appeal of African wood-carvings. His discovery was closely followed by that of the artists of the avant-garde. ..

Portrait eines Mannes aus Shirati (heutiges Tansania), ca. 1910. Fotograf: Dr. Robert Lohmeyer. Bildarchiv SMfV

In Munich, for example, Kandinsky, Macke and Marc were regular visitors to the Völkerkunde-Museum (Museum of Ethnology) and were clearly inspired by the African exhibits. It took several decades before the exceptional creations of traditional African art were able to find their place in the Western world of art. Now, at last, they are given full respect in their own right on the global stage. The excellent craftmanship of the artists is highly admired and the innovative design, often achieved through the abstraction and reduction of form, gives rise to great fascination.

Mein Afrika. Die Sammlung Fritz Koen…

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