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THE WORLD'S LEADING INTERNATIONAL TRIBAL ART FAIR
International Fair of Primitive arts


PARIS, SAINT-GERMAIN-DES-PRÉS, FROM 10 TO 14 SEPTEMBER 2008

TRIBAL ART AT THE HEART OF THE CURRENT ART MARKET.

Reliquary figure bwete, Kota, Gabon. H. : 42 cm. Coming from Charles Ratton, Paris, Christine Valluet, Paris, Private collection © Entwistle

 

SAINT-GERMAIN-DES-PRÉS - The Beaux-Arts district

The fair will be held in the galleries located along the rues des Beaux-Arts, Seine, Jacques Callot, Mazarine, Guénégaud, Jacob and along the quai Malaquais.
For the complete list of the galleries and themed exhibitions they present, see the site of the fair: www.parcours-des-mondes.com

INFORMATION:

Tel : +32(0) 25 02 87 60 E-mail: info@parcours-des-mondes.com

OPENING HOURS:

Every day from 11 AM to 7 PM except on Sunday (Closing time 5 PM).
Late evening closing on Thursday 11 September, at 9 PM.

ADMISSION PRICE:

Free admission

ORGANIZATION:

Tribal Art Management 134 rue Haute 1000 Brussels



Using the innovating concept of a «out of the walls» fair, the itinerary rests on the exceptional concentration of well-known tribal art galleries in the neighborhood of the Beaux-Arts at Saint Germain des Prés. Some forty exhibitors from Europe and from across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans will be received by hosting-galleries in the neighborhood during the event.


As the Biennale des Antiquaires holds its event under the cupola of the Grand Palais, the heart of Saint-Germain-des-Prés will be the stage for the seventh edition of the international show for tribal art, the leader in this genre. This year a restructured and more ambitious form of «traversing worlds» will bring together some 64 specialized galleries, including the finest in the field. The tribal art market is in full bloom, and Paris is one of the world’s leading locations, with a participation rate up 20 %, with over half of the exhibitors this year coming from out of town.


An international gathering

In an area of 25 000 m2 art dealers from Belgium, the United States, Italy, Switzerland, Canada, Spain, the United Kingdom, Australia, the Netherlands as well as from other regions in France will join their Parisian colleagues and set up for five days in the Beaux-Arts district. They will present their most beautiful pieces from Africa, Oceania, Asia and the Americas to collectors and amateurs of tribal arts. Among the newcomers we can note famous dealers, such as Belgians Bernard de Grunne, Pierre Dartevelle and Patrick Mestdagh, the chairman of BRUNEAF or American Thomas Murray, chairman of the ATADA (Antique Tribal Art Dealers Association) – surely impressed by the professionalism of the new organization, and Tribal Art Management, the publisher of the leading international magazine totally dedicated to tribal arts, Tribal Art Magazine (created in 1994 by Alex Arthur). Quality control has been reinforced and all buyers can now receive an certificate of authenticity from each exhibitor.


Crossed influences between tribal and contemporary arts

The creative attraction in the XXth century for art forms from far away lands started with the passionate discovery of the «savage arts» by the Cubists, the German expressionists, the Surrealists, Gauguin, Modigliani or Klee. The borders between the seemingly different forms of art are far from being permeable, and collectors of contemporary art are often very keen on tribal pieces. Liliane and Michel Durand-Dessert’s collection, gathered over a twenty-year period and presented at the Monnaie de Paris, is a brilliant example. Aside from the exhibit «Parcours croisés» at the Galerie Jeanne-Bucher, three exhibitors have chosen to highlight this confrontation: Jacques Germain shows his African pieces at Jean–François Aittouarès’ gallery, facing paintings by Hans Hartung and other modern painters. Patrice Trigano will host Bernard de Grunne whose pieces will dialogue with Magritte, Léger or Picasso. Johann Lévy combines sculptures from traditional ancient art forms from Africa and Oceania and canvases by South-African artist Billie Zangewa, based on fragments of materials.


Illustration: Box, Haida, Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia, Canada. Painted cedar. 55 x 40 x 38 cm Photo © Studio R. Asselberghs - Frédéric Dehaen Brussels Alain Guisson et Yannick van Ruysevelt


Thematic approaches

A number of art dealers have decided for this seventh edition of Parcours des mondes, to present to the collectors and visitors of the fair selections of works of art assembled around different themes, from the notion of ancestors (galerie Renaud Vanuxem) to medicine (galerie Alain Lecomte) from totems and shamans (galerie Flak) to masks from Mesoamerica (galerie Furstenberg). These ephemeral exhibitions each present a coherent ensemble of pieces carefully brought together over various months. The catalogues that accompany most of them are real reference works. They complete the offer of the other exhibitors, rich in unseen pieces and masterpieces to be discovered.


EXHIBITION

Fragments of the Living African sculptures in the Liliane and Michel Durand-Dessert collection.
Monnaie de Paris - 11 quai de Conti - 75006 Paris
From September 10 to 24
From Tuesday to Sunday from 11am to 5.30pm, free admission.


The new organization this year of the Parcours des Mondes wished to offer visitors to the fair the opportunity to contemplate an exceptional private collection of tribal art.
Liliane and Michel Durand-Dessert have a unique and deeply original manner of looking at art they have shared for years through their gallery of contemporary art and through numerous exhibitions. This latest one reveals their same demanding passion for tribal art, which they have been collecting since the 80s.
Attracted by the sculptural treatment of the human body, these major Art lovers have a strong tendency towards a defined aesthetics and for works modeled in a way by their natural or human environment. The approximately 150 pieces of African art exhibited in the context of Parcours des mondes 2008 are proof of their choices and will bring together amateurs of tribal art as well as all those who are very interested in contemporary art.


PUBLICATION:

Catalogue available in all the member galleries members and offered to the public at the information center of the Parcours, 72 rue Mazarine. Format: 160 x 210 mm (160 pages) with a map to detach.
The catalogue of the exhibition Fragments of the Living will be on sale at the Monnaie de Paris.
Texts by Jean-Louis Paudrat and Liliane & Michel Durand-Dessert, photographs Hugues Dubois. Edition 5 continents. 270 reproductions in color for about 160 objects 24 x 28,5 cm 320 pages. 75 €.


Illustration: Mariam Bandé Photo © Antoine Schneck Galerie Berthet-Aittouarès