The Amsterdam Trail

On May 19–20, Amsterdam's Spiegelkwartier will host The Amsterdam Trail 2013. Galleries with Asian and international tribal art will be open throughout the weekend to display their recent acquisitions. Contemporary artists will also be displayed alongside ethnographic works. 

For more information, visit the event's official website.

Face to Face in Brussels

Currently on view at the Palais Royal in Brussels is Face to Face, featuring a fascinating assemblage of masks from cultures around the world. The works on display come from the collections of the Royal Museum for Central Africa, the Royal Museums of Art and History, and the Royal Museums for Fine Arts.  On view through September 9, 2012.

Visit the exhibition's official website.

Shaman's mask  -  British Columbia

Information and images courtesy of the Palais Royal de Bruxelles

African and Oceanic Art at Sotheby's - June 12, 2012

Sotheby's will put an exquisite group of African and Oceanic art and artifacts before the bidders in Paris on June 12. Highlights of the sale will include a stunning black Bete mask, a Fang reliquary figure, a cephalomorphic Igala head crest, a Yoruba Oshe Shango maternity figure, and a range of other sculptural masterworks from West and Central Africa, New Ireland, and elsewhere.

View the online catalogue.

Mask  -  Bete, Côte d'Ivoire

Reliquary figure  -  Fang, Gabon

Head crest  -  Igala, Nigeria

Oshe Shango maternity figure  -  Yoruba, Nigeria

Ivory cup with figurines  -  Sapi-Portuguese, Sierra Leone

Mask  -  Gere, Côte d'Ivoire

Power figure  -  Kongo, D.R. Congo

Female figure  -  Tiv, Nigeria

Malanggan mask  -  New Ireland

Canoe prow ornament  -  Solomon Islands

Information and images courtesy of Sotheby's

"Art of Central Africa" at Asian Civilizations Museum, Singapore

Congo River: Arts of Central Africa is now on display at the Asian Civilizations Museum in Singapore. Known as the 'river that swallows all rivers," the Congo today links the nations of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo and Gabon. Drawing from the Musee du quai Branly and other European collections of African art, Congo River: Arts of Central Africa is the first exhibit of its kind to be held in Southeast Asia. 

Central Africa is home to various Bantu-speaking peoples with a shared past. The artistic heritage of this region has often been studied as the art of disparate groups of unrelated cultures. These cultures are nevertheless linked by themes that stretch across a region that is 5,000 times the size of Singapore. Themes include heart-shaped masks, reliquary figures for ancestor veneration and female representations. 

The exhibition links diverse cultures as well three modern nations, whose rich artistic traditions are explored. The show features beautifully crafted sculptures, masks and ancestor figures, and highlights their importance in ceremonies, rituals, and dances. The visual power of these objects have long impressed collectors and artists, and the exhibition also displays works by Pablo Picasso, who in the early 20th century was strongly influence by African art as he developed his modernist style. 

A full range of programs for families, adults and students will be held in conjunction with the exhibition. 

Source: Asian Civilizations Museum, Singapore