Mangareva: The Pantheon of Polynesia

Mangareva: The Pantheon of Polynesia
3 February  – 10 May, 2009
Musée du quai Branly, Paris

The exhibition brings together the only known works of art from Mangareva, a small island in the Gambier archipelago in French Polynesia. The works of art, a dozen statues, both anthropomorphic and not, have been loaned by prestigious institutions such as the British Museum, the Vatican Museums, the Metropolitan Museum, etc.) Brought together for the first time in a public exhibition, they are outstanding, not only because of their rarity but also because the shape of these sculptures differ from those of classical Polynesian sculpture.

The exhibition is an opportunity to offer an update on a widely unknown culture and to discover how rich and unique this insular culture is. It is also a way for  Mangarevian people to confront their original gods and rediscover their past. The 64 page catalogue Mangareva is a coedition with the musée de Tahiti .

For more information, please visit: www.quaibranly.fr