The Musée du quai Branly is currently home to an exhibition – Māori, leurs trésors ont une âme (“their treasures have a soul”) – presenting the Māori culture through 250 pieces borrowed from collections of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. This unique exhibition, presented outside New Zealand for the very first time, comes as the witness of a strong and live culture, and the assertion of a people’s will to remain in control of its future. An opportunity to discover Māori culture as seen by the Māori themselves, outside the perspectives and models of the Western world.

The exhibition gathers a very wide variety of pieces – sculpture, finery, daily objects, sacred or ritual objects, elements of architecture, photography, audiovisual works, etc. – and organizes around three different sections:

– the first one explores Whakapapa, that is the reference system through which are formulated cosmologic and genealogic narratives: bloodlines between peoples, tribal regions, natural environment and the relationship between all living and non-living things, as well as those to time, space, and generations… Visitors will discover the three fundamental elements that structure Māori society: waka (canoe, or means of transportation, whare tupuna (ancestral house), and tā moko (the art of skin sculpture, tattooing).

– the second part covers the expressions of mana, a term referring to a spiritual force that dwells in all living things, animals, and sometimes even inanimate objects. Those who possess mana are granted respect: it confers authority, power, and prestige. The symbols of mana and identity exhibited here include personal adornment, a cloak, moko (tattoos), and weapons. Other mentions include the taonga (personal treasures), language and musical instruments.

– the last part, finally, shines the light on Kaitiakitanga, that is the safeguard, care and protection led upon the natural environment. The Māori consider the world as an environment whose forms of life are all created by Papatūānuku (Mother Earth), and where all things are interconnected.

Contemporary expression of the Māori culture has also been given space at the end of the visit, including digital art, sculpture, installation, and photography.

More information here.

Exhibition slideshow (Le Monde)

Article on the restitution of all the Māori heads to New Zealand in January 2012.