Beneath the Surface: Life, Death and Gold in Ancient Panama

Beneath the Surface: Life, Death, and Gold in Ancient Panama, at the Penn Museum until November 1, 2015, explores the history of, archaeological evidence about, and new research perspectives on the Coclé people who lived from about 700 to 900 CE. Video footage from the original Sitio Conte excavation and more than 200 objects from the famous excavation provide an immersive experience in this installation. One massive burial, dubbed “Burial 11” by the excavators, yielded the most extraordinary materials from the excavation. Believed to be that of a paramount chief, it contained twenty-three individuals in three distinct layers, accompanied by a vast array of grave objects. A to-scale installation of the burial serves as the exhibition’s centerpiece and features many artifacts displayed in the actual positions in which they were found, as well as digital interactive stations that allow for further exploration.

View the exhibition's official website.

Gold of the Ancient Americas

On view now at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore is Gold of the Ancient Americas, an exhibition showcasing more than 50 artifacts, including cast animal pendants, a hammered gold disc, beaded necklaces and nose ornaments made by the indigenous peoples of the ancient Americas from Peru to Panama. The exhibition explores the Walters’ collection of gold ornaments crafted in Central and South America between AD 500 and 1500, alongside gifts to the collection from several generous donors. A mix of art and science, the exhibition tells the story of ancient societies through their use of gold as a symbol of power, wealth, and privilege, and highlights the making of gold objects by ancient American goldsmiths before the Spanish conquest.

Visit the Walters Art Museum website.

Images courtesy of the Walters Art Museum

Jewelry from the Roof of the World

On now at the Fondation Baur in Geneva is Jewelry from the Roof of the World, an exhibition devoted to ornaments from Mongolia, Tibet, Nepal, Northern India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Central Asia. Sourced entirely from the collection of Colette and Jean-Pierre Ghysels, these astonishing works reveal peoples, civilisations, and cultures whose memory is gradually fading. They convey also the passion and perseverance which took the Ghysels to every continent of the planet in their search for exquisite jewelry, always guided by two basic criteria: quality and beauty. Seduced by the richness of the ancestral traditions of Asia, they have unceasingly assembled these witnesses of vanishing worlds.

Visit the exhibition's official website.

Information and images courtesy of the Fondation Baur

Quand le corps se fait parure

Entering its final month on view at the Musée du Cinquantenaire in Brussels is Quand le corps se fait parure, an exhibition examining the art of body modification and adornment in traditional cultures around the globe. The installation explores these practices as a type of language that integrates individuals into their social and cultural environment. Bodies are tattooed, scarified, pierced, painted, stretched or adorned, all of which practices demonstrate the social position of the individual and their links with their community. Amazonian body painting, nose pendants of Papua New Guinea, moulded skulls of the Amerindian peoples, and Chinese Miao earrings are just a few of many examples of this special form of physical communication on display in the exhibition.  On view through October 28.

Visit the exhibition's official website.

Information and images courtesy of the Musée du Cinquantenaire