Some 310 works of art from pre-colonial Philippines, selected from public and private collections – Filipino, American and European – are now on show at the Musée du quai Branly in Paris, France.
Divided into two sections, the exhibition explores the traditional artworks from the mountainous northern highlands region, examining deities, wealth, magic, poetry and warriors, as well as artworks inspired by the prominent shipping trade on the southern coasts and islands, with influences originating from India, Indonesia, Arabia and China.
The Philippines: Archipelago of Exchange is on show at the Musée du Quai Branly, Paris, until 14 July 2013. Find out more at the museum’s website
A bracelet from the 6th-11th century, Northeastern Luzon, Vagayan Valley, Baggao. (Photo © Neal Oshima)
Funerary Mask, 12th or 13th cent., Visayas, Panay Isalnd. (Photo © Neal Oshima)
Jar second funeral (detail), 500 BC to 370 AD, Mindanao, Sarangani Province. (Photo © Neal Oshima)
A jacket and pants, 20th century. This outfit would have been worn by the Bagobo, the first ethnic group in Mindanao (the second largest island of the Philippines) encountered by the Spaniards at the end of the 19th century. (© Claude Germain)
A grave marker – sundunk, late 19th or early 20th century, Sulu, Asia. Gullied by the weather, this grave marker was created in the shape of a European ship (caravel or galleon). (Photo © Claude Germain)
This shield was used as a defensive weapon by the Bagobo people of southeastern Mindanao. (Photo © Claude Germain)
The box is decorated on its sides with the heads of two pigs, which serve as stylised handles. It was carved in the north-eastern Ifugao in the region Mayoyao and was used to store ritual paraphernalia. (Photo © Claude Germain)
Kalinga warrior with his axe and feathers. His chest is tattooed to signal his courage. (© Musée du quai Branly, photo Claude Germain)
(© Musée du quai Branly, photo Claude Germain)
