Art Of The Day Weekly
#523 - from 16 July 2018 to 5 September 2018
Bwete reliquary, Gabon, region of Haut-Ogooué. 19th century. Wood, copper, brass. H 57 cm. Gift Dr Georges Graz in 1929. MEG. Photo: © MEG, J. Watts
Ecstasy from Africa
GENEVA – Ecstasy and all cults or demonstrations of possession seem to belong more to football supporters during the World Cup than to the griots of the Sahel. Is football becoming a new religion? Most probably, but to establish this type of parallel and base it on a solid demonstration, nothing could beat plunging into the sacred and ecstatic dimension of traditional rites. The Musée d’Ethnographie does it by digging into its African collections. Divination, funerary rites, and sacrifices are referred to through masks, reliquary and Talismanic manuscripts: al tends to link the world of the living to that of the dead and the gods to ensure success and prosperity. No link has been proven with the round ball. Or not yet in any case.
• Religions de l’extase at the MEG, from 18 May 2018 to 6 January 2019.