Photos - page 5 - a break and then the rue Mazarine galleries
This page will focus on the galleries on the rue Mazarine

*Text below in quotes is from the Parcours des mondes catalog

Some of the photos are better than others, the lighting situation wasn't the best for non-flash
photography. You can click on any image to see a larger version.
NEXT --> PAGE 6 photos...rue Guenegaud

Go to Main page - page 1 - page 2 - page 3 - page 4 - page 5 - page 7
of the Parcour des mondes 2006 recap
First stop on rue Mazarine was #31 Johann Levy Primitive Art

"The Johann Levy Primitif Art Gallery is displaying an exceptional group of wooden sculptures from Ancient Peru that, for the first time, demonstrate the
richness and extreme diversity of a poorly-known material, the unknown part of pre-Colombian art collections. This exhibition is a voyage of discovery
through Ancient Peruvian social and economic organisation, navigation, weaving, funerary and religious rites, with their links to political organisation
(such as the notion of sacrifice) and the use of drugs. Of course, this selection of sculptures of artistic quality also bears witness to the universality of
the human soul.

The civilisations represented range from the Mochicas (100 BC/850) to the Incas (1440/1532), including the great Huari-Tihuanaco culture, the
Chanca'i, the Chimu and the Inca...

The exhibition will be accompanied by a full-colour catalogue, covering all the works on display, with an introduction by Andre Emmerich and a text by M.
Sergio Purini, curator of American Art at the Royal Museum of Art and History in Brussels (published by Somogy Editions)."


Johann had a really nice selection of masks and objects from Peru, some of which I was familiar with but some that I had never been exposed to and
really loved!
If you've been going page by page through this photo review you're probably a little tired by now. This was about the point in
walking through all of the galleries that we all decided to sit down and have a little lunch. We ate in the cafe on the corner of rue
Callot and rue de Seine shown above. I love all of the little sidewalk cafes in Paris, it's a great place to people watch.

I'll take this time to show you some of the streets in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés area and then continue with the gallery tour.
(Above) Place de la Concorde in 1885. The
Palais Bourbon can be seen in the
background, beyond the River Seine

(Right) The Place de la Concorde now. The
center of the Place is occupied by a giant
Egyptian obelisk decorated with hieroglyphics
exalting the reign of the pharaoh Ramses II. It
once marked the entrance to the Luxor
Temple. The viceroy of Egypt, Mehemet Ali,
presented the 3,300-year-old Luxor Obelisk to
France in 1829. King Louis-Philippe had it
placed in the centre of Place de la Concorde
in 1833.
OK, now that you've had a little break from it, we'll get back to the tour.
The object above is a staff that was fantastic!
Across the street from Johann Levy was the Lewis/Wara Gallery

"The Lewis/Wara Gallery opened its doors in 1983 and is based in New York and Seattle, and is an ethnographic art gallery specializing in the tribal
art and antiquities of Oceania, Indonesia and Africa, with an emphasis on New Guinea. We also carry a selection of antique Indonesian furniture
carved by native carvers for Europeans around the turn of the century. The Gallery will be exhibiting new acquisitions for this KAOS Parcours des
Mondes."

Kirby is an incredibly nice person that I have now known for a couple of years now and I really enjoy him and he always has an incredible selection of
objects on display. I spent more time talking to Kirby than I did taking photos, but I've included the image from the event catalog along with a shot of
the very interesting mask that was displayed in the front window of the gallery which was similar to a large figure that was on display at the Musee
Quai Branly..
A little further down the other way on rue Mazarine was #51 Galerie Vanuxem
I was happy to see some Karahut figures in the show. The Musee Quai
Branly also has a Karahut figure on display. The ones in this gallery
were nice but they were priced 3 times more than I've seen them
anywhere else, even in other high-end galleries. Pricing was probably
increased because of the show (?), it made me appreciate my Karahut
figures even more.
Across the street was one of two gallery spaces that Noir D'Ivorie had set up for the show.

"The Galerie Noir d'lvoire, 19 rue Mazarine, was opened in 1985 by Yasmina Chenoufi, whose thematic exhibitions are always original and innovative.
She has specialized in sub Saharan archaic cultures, for which she maintains an enduring passion. Member of the Compagnie Nationale des Experts.
Yasmina Chenoufi will take you, at the occasion of this 2006 edition of the Parcours des Mondes, to the boundaries of Burkina-Faso and Niger, at the
discovery of the civilisations from the sands."

Terracotta really isn't my thing, I enjoyed walking through the exhibition but for many reasons I am just not very moved by or interested in this type of art.
I've included below the photo from the show catalog.
Galerie Afrique Noire was not a part of the "official" Parcours des Mondes, but he has a permanent gallery space set up at 54 rue Mazarine and he
did a wonderful exhibition of African maternity figures which was my favorite thematic exhibition of them all. Of course I love maternity figures to begin
with, but he had some really wonderful examples from all over Africa and many from cultures that I had never seen maternity figures from. One of my
favorite was the Tanzanian maternity figure he featured on his poster. It was unusual in the fact that the figure was a "container". The head comes off
and the inside of the body is hollow and I would assume that it was used to place things in, it was wonderful.
A wonderful Tsonga maternity figure that was the final for a staff at one time. This was my friend Estelle's favorite object of the show.
A REALLY wonderful Lobi maternity figure. The two faces looking at
each other was great. This was one of the favorites of the show for my
friend Vero. As she puts it - "I'd dig a tunnel for that!"
The last stop on this street was #51, Galerie Renaud Vanuxem

There were a few interesting things in this gallery, but the most interesting thing to me was an Urhobo Iphri figure.
Above is a series of photos I took from the top of the towers of Notre Dame that I merged together to get a wide-angle view of Paris. Notre Dame was
fantastic and we took a lot of photos. They are your typical tourist photos, but they're different because you took them yourself. All of those photos
will be on my personal photo page from the Paris trip. You can click on the photo above to see the full size version.