Chefs-d’œuvre d’Afrique — dans les collections du musée Dapper

Exhibition

Sculpture

Chefs-d’œuvre d’Afrique
dans les collections du musée Dapper

Past: October 1, 2015 → June 18, 2017

Some of the most important works in the world brought together for the first time. These pieces of outstanding form and beauty are representative of the great cultures of Africa.

A tribute to the founder

Michel Leveau passed away in November 2012 having fulfield the humanist mission he had set himself a little more than thirty years ago with the creation of the Fondation Dapper. An aesthete guided by the precision of scientific principles, he devoted himself to acquiring outstanding works of art for his institution, some of which had previously belonged to leading individuals in the spreading of appreciation of non-Western arts, such as Charles Ratton, Jacob Epstein, and Paul Guillaume.

His aim: to improve understanding of the traditional arts of sub-Saharan Africa and raise awareness of them among the general public.

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© Archives Musée Dapper — Photo Aurélie Leveau.
An exceptional collection

Notable characteristics of the collections of the Musée Dapper are the diversity of their geographic origins and their antiquity. The exhibition presents around 130 of its most important pieces. Some are unique and without any equivalent in the world, such as the sculptures from Gabon (Fang, Kota, Punu), Cameroon (Bangwa), Benin (Fon) and Mali (Dogon, Soninke).

Long-awaited by the public, Masterpieces from Africa will enable visitors to discover keynote works of art whose significance is rooted in the cultures of Central and West Africa.

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© Archives Musée Dapper — Photo Aurélie Leveau.
Works that illustrate life

The different pieces exhibited have been chosen for their sculptural qualities but also for the roles they played in the societies within which they were created: masks, statues, statuettes, altars, headdresses, weapons and other artefacts are closely linked to specific practices and forms of knowledge. They had multiple functions, for example, some were used in initiation rituals, such as those of adolescents or of men developing esoteric and/or technical knowledge. Others, though sometimes the same pieces, were employed in cults that worshipped the ancestors or ensured the fertility of women and the land, or for purposes of cures.

  • Fiyèt-Lalo, la fille de l’eau — Un conte haïtien adapté et interprété par Natacha Jeune Saintil Event Sunday, April 10, 2016 at 3 PM

    Un magnifique spectacle chanté pour plonger au cœur des traditions haïtiennes. Avec passion, Natacha donne à voir, avec son corps et sa voix, une histoire qui emmène le public au-delà du réel.

Musée Dapper Museum
Map Map
16 Trocadéro Zoom in 16 Trocadéro Zoom out

35 bis, rue Paul Valéry

75016 Paris

T. 01 45 00 01 50

www.dapper.fr

Charles de Gaulle–Étoile

Opening hours

Monday, Wednesday, Friday – Sunday, 11 AM – 7 PM

Admission fee

Full rate €6.00 — Concessions €4.00

Students, senior citizens, jobseekers, teachers, and large family cardholders

The artist

  • Aurélie Leveau