The Inca Trail: The Past of the Andes

Through December 2012, a new thematic exhibition devoted to Andean cultures will be on view at the Barbier-Mueller Museum for Pre-Columbian Art. The Inca Trail is organized into two parts, the first of which deals with the indigenous cultures that preceded the establishment of the Inca Empire, the second being devoted entirely to the latter's creations. The exhibition's connecting thread is the Qhapaq Nan, or "Inca Trail," a gargantuan network of roads that linked what is now southern Colombia with northwestern Argentina and central Chile, by way of Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. Ninety-eight pieces from the major cultures of this geographic area, twenty-six of which come from the Barbier-Mueller's collection, are superbly presented.

Visit the exhibition's official website.

Cup with mythological figure  -  Jama Coaque, Ecuador  -  500 BC–750 AD

Double-spouted jug  -  Chimú, Peru  -  1100–1500 AD

Stirrup-spout vessel with portrait head  -  Moche or Mochica, Peru  -  200 BC–700 AD

Standing figure  -  Chorrera, Ecuador  -  800–400 BC

Cup with male figure  -  Jama Coaque, Ecuador  -  500 BC–500 AD

Vessel with copulating couple  -  Huari, Peru  -  600–1000 AD

Stirrup-spout vessel with multiple figures  -  Moche or Mochica  -  300–1000 AD

Crown ornament depicting a mythical feline  -  Moche or Mochica, Peru  -  200 BC–700 AD

Information and images courtesy of the Musées Barbier-Mueller