INDIGENOUS COLOMBIA: ART AND COSMOLOGY

Commentary by Sergio Martínez

Thought and Splendour of Indigenous Colombia presents an extensive display of various art objects, mainly pre-Columbian, found at archaeological sites in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta region and other areas of northern Colombia. The exhibition opened at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts on June 3 and will remain open until October 1, 2023. 

The opening of the exhibition

Gold figure

In Montreal, we had already had artistic displays of indigenous peoples of the Americas, such as the Incas and the Mayas, but there had not been the opportunity to see such an extensive display of the rich artistic production of the aboriginal peoples of Colombia. Particularly impressive is the great attention to detail that can be seen in the gold work. 

The displays of gold ornaments and decorations reflect a remarkable creative skill on the part of the artists. These objects in the sample made in gold and copper alloys include pectorals, ear, and nose ornaments, as well as others, mainly miniatures, which would have been votive offerings to their gods. There are also some pieces in platinum, something a bit extraordinary since this is a metal that, due to the high temperature it requires to be melted, is not usually found in the works of ancient peoples. 

A complete section of the exhibition shows funerary objects, chief among them a stone monument, the one that dominates both for its magnitude, also carved in a single stone, and for the symbolism it contains: a human figure, but also with feline features. 

These aboriginal peoples of northern Colombia also expressed through their art a whole cosmological vision, a conception of their existence in relation to their spiritual and religious beliefs, as well as to nature. The exhibition includes references to how the descendants of the indigenous peoples of that Colombian region who made the pieces themselves interpret that cosmological vision: "The objects are messengers," says Mamo Camilo, one of the members of the Arhuaco people (an indigenous ethnic group of the northern region of Colombia) who took part in the interpretative work of the exhibition. He adds: "All these ancient pieces were made as connectors between the sacred spaces and the communities whose purpose is to conserve the Earth, to maintain the balance between nature and between men.” (Quoted from the essay "To Dream a Dream Together-Conversations with Mamo Camilo and Jaison, Elder Arhuaco Brothers from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Maria", by Diana Magaloni, included in the catalogue of the exhibition The Portable Universe / El universo en tus manos - Thought and Splendor of Indigenous Colombia).

Breastplate in the form
of a bird-man

 

Erell Hubert, Curator of Pre-Columbian Art at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, points out that "the works that are part of this exhibition are not only material objects but vectors of ancestral memory and knowledge (of these indigenous peoples)". 

Ceramic objects and
gold ornaments

The exhibition was originally assembled by the Los Angeles County Museum of Arts (LACMA), with the participation of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Museo del Oro del Banco de la República, Bogotá. 

Impressive gold pieces

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 1380 Sherbrooke West (Metro Guy-Concordia or bus 24 Sherbrooke). 

Opening hours: 

Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

Wednesday from 10 am to 9 pm. 

Thursday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

Monday: closed. 

Ticket prices: 

Persons 31 and over $24 ($12 on Wednesday after 5 p.m.). 

People from 21 to 30 years old $16 ($12 on Wednesday after 5:00 p.m.) 

Children and young people under 20 years old are free (accompanied by an adult)