Kosmos - Rätsel der Menschheit

The great timekeepers of our earthly existence are the celestial bodies surrounding us, especially the moon and sun. Humans have been trying to explain them and decipher them for thousands of years. What is the universe, the ordering principle underlying the firmament? Kosmos - Rätsel der Menschheit (The Cosmos - Mystery of Mankind), now on view at the Museum Rietberg in Zürich, explores the great enigma that is the universe. Alongside cosmologies and creation myths from Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Polynesia, those of the western world from Egypt and Mesopotamia to the Germanic peoples and the Biblical account in Genesis will also be presented, as well the history of European scientific inquiry. Based on the exhibition idea by Martin Brauen and his exhibition Visions of the Cosmos, which was shown at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York in 2009.

Visit the exhibition's official website.

Images courtesy of the Museum Rietberg

Lascaux: The Sistine Chapel of Prehistory

On view now at the Musée du Cinquantenaire in Brussels is an astounding exhibition highlighting one of Europe's greatest historical treasures: the painted caves of Lascaux.  Lascaux: The Sistine Chapel of Prehistory is a full-scale, scientifically accurate reproduction of the famous cave complex and features the finest up-to-date visual technologies, giving the visitor the impression of actually being in the cave itself. The exhibition also pays attention to the cultural context within which this art originated, showing how its creators lived, hunted, ate and clothed themselves. Serving to frame the whole are complete animal skeletons and bone fragments, a realistic portrayal of a baby mammoth, and contemporary implements and jewellery, drawn from the Museum of Natural Sciences and the Cinquantenaire Museum.

Visit the official website

Image courtesy of the Musée du Cinquantenaire

Face to Face

The Israel Museum will open an exhibition entitled Face to Face: The Oldest Masks in the World on March 11. Curated by Dr. Debby Hershman, the show will be a first in many respects, as the 9000-year-old limestone masks that are its subject— twelve of which are known—have never been brought together before, even on their home territory.

Visit the exhibition's official website.

Photos courtesy of The Israel Museum

Arts de l'antiquité, uen collection centenaire

Arts de l'antiquité, uen collection centenaire (Arts of Antiquity, a Centenary Collection), on view until October 6 at the Musée Barbier-Mueller in Geneva, reflects the passion of three generations of collectors of ancient art. Begun by Josef Mueller in the early twentieth century, the collection of antiquities at the Barbier-Mueller Museum was enriched by the acquisitions of his son-in-law Jean Paul Barbier-Mueller and of his grandsons. The pieces on display, chosen for their aesthetic quality, are ambassadors of civilization as varied as the Cyclades, Predynastic and Pharaonic Egypt, Greece, and Rome. They are landmarks in this representative tour of the artistic production of the ancient world. The panorama offered to visitors illustrates the major tendencies, the extraordinary diversity, and the vitality of the art of antiquity, from the sixth millennium BC to the third century AD.

View the exhibition's official website.

Female figure  -  Cyclades  -  circa 2900 BC

Female figure ("Bactrian Princess")   -  Oxus civilization  -  End of 3rd millennium BC

Vase with scorpion-men  -  Southeast Iran  -  2600–2200 BC

Information and images courtesy of the Musée Barbier-Mueller de Genève