Curatorial’s Pick

Iris Amizlev

Curator of Intercultural Arts

Iris Amizlev discusses American photographer Andreas Feininger’s perspective on the inner structure of creatures and objects, inviting us to contemplate nature’s beauty up close as exemplified in this shell from a sea snail.

Erell Hubert

Curator of Pre-Columbian Art

Here’s the pick from Erell Hubert. She talks about an artwork from the north coast of Peru, where she had the opportunity to lead archaeological digs in 2018.

The English audio recording follows the French and starts at 0:36.

Mary-Dailey Desmarais,

Curator of International Modern and Contemporary Art

“Theo Eshetu’s Atlas Fractured is one of my favourite recent additions to the MMFA collection. In this mesmerizing film installation, Eshetu combines imagery from art history, anthropology, science and religion from across different time periods and cultures.

The result offers an immersive, transhistorical experience that forces us to question the meaning of identity.

Among the elements of Atlas Fractured that I find most captivating is the soundtrack, which features words by philosophers, poets and writers from around the world, including Carl Jung, James Baldwin, Langston Hughes, Toni Morrison, Angela Davis, Joseph Campbell and Homi Bhabha. For me, some of the most moving verses in the soundtrack come from Maya Angelou’s poem Human Family, the last lines of which read as follows:

‘We love and lose in China,/ we weep on England’s moors,/ and laugh and moan in Guinea/ and thrive on Spanish shores./ We seek success in Finland,/ are born and die in Maine./ In minor ways we differ,/ in major we‘re the same./ I note the obvious differences/ between each sort and type,/ but we are more alike, my friends,/ than we are unalike.’ … A lesson in love during these troubled times.”

Jennifer Laurent

Curator of Modern and Contemporary Decorative Arts

“Spanish-born designer Nacho Carbonell infuses his work with whimsical fictional elements that appeal to our imagination and inner senses, at once transporting us far from the realm of the everyday and encouraging us to forge a deeper connection with our inner selves. I particularly love this burnished bronze zoomorphic sculpture – a unique work from his series Time is a Treasure. At first glance, it evokes a fantastical pot-bellied creature standing on stilt-like legs, but upon closer inspection we notice it is brought to life by a working clock hidden within its core. Beckoning us to see beyond the superficial, this thoughtful work gives the time only to those who take the trouble to look closer. As such, it incites us to turn our gaze inward and reconnect with our own internal ticking clock.”