Portable Universe: Thought and Splendour of Indigenous Colombia

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts presents

Portable Universe: Thought and Splendour of Indigenous Colombia until October 1, 2023

Funerary Vessel in Form of Seated Thinker, Colombia, Middle Cauca Valley, 700-1600 CE. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Muñoz Kramer Collection, gift of Camilla Chandler Frost and Stephen and Claudia Muñoz-Kramer. Photo © Museum Associates/LACMA

The exhibition is the culmination of several years of close collaboration between the curatorial team and the Arhuaco community of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta region in northern Colombia. The largest exhibition of art from Colombia ever to be presented outside of that country, it proposes alternative ways of approaching the world around us and presents a completely new perspective on Indigenous art from this region. The exhibition was organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, as well as the Museo del Oro and the Unidad de Artes y Otras Colecciones of the Banco de la República, Colombia, in collaboration with the MMFA.

Portable Universe: Thought and Splendour of Indigenous Colombia brings together some 400 works of art from Colombia dating from about 1500 BCE to the present day, most of which have never been exhibited in Canada. This major show gives centre stage to Indigenous perspectives in what is a departure from the more traditional museum discourse about the arts. It invites visitors to engage in a cultural dialogue across space and time and to reflect on a different way of understanding the world and our place in it.

“The purpose of the objects you keep is to connect us. All these ancient pieces were made as
connectors between the sacred spaces and the communities whose purpose is to maintain the Earth,
to keep the balance in nature and between humans.”
—Mamo Camilo Izquierdo, Arhuaco spiritual and political leader

Votive Figure (Tunjo) in Form of a Man Seated on a Stool, Colombia, Eastern Cordillera, 800-1600 CE (Muisca Tradition). Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, gift of Alfred C. Glassell, Jr. Photo © Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

The artistic creations presented offer a timely reminder that this planet is our shared home. Moreover, they broaden our understanding of how we relate to it and to each other. “The works that make up the exhibition are therefore not simply material objects but vectors of ancestral memory and knowledge,” explains Erell Hubert, Curator of Pre-Columbian Art at the MMFA and curator of the Montreal presentation. “Their messages continue to hold great relevance for our world today and lead us to think, among other things, about the interdependence between our planet and all the beings that inhabit it. Portable Universe offers an opportunity to reflect on our individual and collective roles in maintaining a balance in nature. The Arhuaco community invites visitors to connect with the works, hear their messages, and become active participants in preserving this balance,” she adds.

Whistling Vessel with Jaguar Attributes, Colombia, Calima Region, 100 BCE – 800 CE (Yotoco Tradition). Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Muñoz Kramer Collection, gift of Camilla Chandler Frost and Stephen and Claudia Muñoz-Kramer. Photo © Museum Associates / LACMA

With the European conquest, Indigenous cultures of the Americas were discredited, and the well established system to which millions of people turned to understand the meaning of life and existence was reduced to crude superstition. This exhibition attempts to restore a number of these millennia-old teachings by revealing the works’ intrinsic meaning and the life they contain. It draws from contemporary Indigenous concepts to paint a vision of the world in which ancient works of art have relevance for today and tomorrow. Arhuaco wisdom also teaches that the works in this exhibition were made in conjunction with the principles of creation, and therefore have no beginning or end, which is why the decision was made to not include dates on the individual labels for these items. Instead, the focus is put on their role as participants in the networks of life.

Coming in large part from the Museo del Oro in Bogotá, the creations attest to the diversity and richness of Colombia’s Indigenous cultures. The exhibition features some of the most remarkable artworks ever made in this region, including intricately cast gold pendants, hammered gold masks, ceramic effigies of mystical creatures, rare ancient textiles and a series of contemporary watercolours. These works are displayed against a backdrop of image projections and a soundscape composed by Luis Fernando Franco, featuring ancient ocarinas.

Bird Ocarina, Colombia, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, 900-1600 CE (Tairona Tradition), ceramic. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Muñoz Kramer Collection, gift of Camilla Chandler Frost and Stephen and Claudia Muñoz-Kramer

The exhibition ends with a participative reflection area that is unique to the Montreal presentation. An in-situ work realized by the Consejo ancestral Willka Yaku, whose mission is to preserve the Colombian Massif in the Andes, inhabits the space. It is juxtaposed with questions and quotations from local Indigenous and Colombian people that are aimed at inspiring visitors to reflect on their place and role in the universe.

“Caring for humanity means caring for nature,
and caring for nature means caring for humanity.”
—Jaison Pérez Villafaña, Arhuaco elder

DOCUMENTARY SERIES UNPACKING THE UNIVERSE: THE MAKING OF AN EXHIBITION
This nine-episode documentary produced by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art takes the public behind the scenes of this major exhibition. The series retraces the six years of research and design that went into this collaborative project with the Arhuaco community. In addition to showing the making of the exhibition, Unpacking the Universe allows the public to see archaeological sites and breathtaking scenery, as well as witness enriching conversations with Arhuaco elders on their view of the world and
present-day issues.

For opening hours and ticket prices, visit: www.mbam.qc.ca

View of the exhibition Portable Universe: Thought and Splendour of Indigenous Colombia at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
Photo MMFA, Jean-François Brière