2015.05.10 Musee du Quai Branly (Paris, France)

Just across the Seine from the Musee Guimet is the Musee du Quai Branly, which presented indigenous tribal art and culture from the Americas, Africa, Oceania, and Asia (pretty much the world save for Australia).

The museum is the first we've encountered to have modern architecture, something of a rarity in Paris. The surrounding natural gardens also offers a stark contrast to the more prevalent traditional French gardens.

The museum is organized geographically.

In the entrance hall: Maoi Statue from the Easter Island

I've seen examples of American indigenous arts, mostly of the Central, Pacific Northwest and Arctic regions, as well as tribal cultures in Taiwan and China, but this museum really opened my eyes.

And that's saying a lot, in this information-driven world.

Other than the artworks, the museum also had small corners/booths for visitors to experience tribal music, which I thought was a great touch.

The only flaw for the museum (other than its ever-winding, nausea-inducing stairway), is the lack of English translations. Which meant, it was often difficult to put what I was looking at into proper context. The museum is still relatively new, so I hope that's something they'll be working on to improve.

So this post will be image-heavy, even more so than usual. And I swear it's not because of laziness.

The designs look unbelievably fresh and modern, especially the pattern of the repeating faces.

I shall call this piece - Rooster Massaging a Monkey

Wooden Drum (Vanuatu)

I would have never thought these to be drums had they not been featured on the English brochure.

Seat (Nias)

Bronze Drum (Java)

Hope you enjoyed the photos.