PARIS.- In its sixteen years of existence, Parcours des Mondes has established itself as the world’s most important international tribal art show. This multiple-venue, open-air art fair is always enjoyable and often benefits from Indian summer weather. It affords visitors the opportunity to visit galleries from around the world specializing in the arts of Africa, Oceania, the Americas, as well as the arts of Asia. For its seventeenth edition, held from September 11 through September 16, 2018, in the heart of Paris’ Saint-Germain-des-Prés neighborhood, collectors, aficionados, and the merely curious will, as has become customary, embark on a voyage through the customs and rituals of the world’s traditional cultures, expressed through representations that are sometimes human, sometimes animal, sometimes decorative, and sometimes utilitarian. The 2018 Parcours des Mondes will center around three main events: an homage to the legendary 1930 exhibition that was held at the Galerie du Théâtre Pigalle, a series of lectures and conversations that will take place at the Espace Tribal, and the thematic exhibitions that many of the participating galleries will present. Of course, the wealth of the Parcours des Mondes’ offerings makes it a destination both for the galleries that exhibit there and for its visitors, who come from the world over to attend.

PARCOURS DES MONDES EXPANDS ITS HORIZONS
Adam Lindemann is this year’s honorary president. A major force on the contemporary art scene, but also a major collector and aficionado of tribal art, Lindemann operates Venus Over Manhattan in New York City. He is the author of Collecting Contemporary, a work that became a collectors’ bible of sorts soon after it was published by Taschen in 2006. His presidency of Parcours des Mondes underscores the importance of the relationships between the fields of tribal and contemporary art.

AN HOMAGE TO THE 1930 EXHIBITION AT THE GALERIE DU THÉÂTRE PIGALLE
An homage to the legendary 1930 exhibition organized by Tristan Tzara, Charles Ratton, and Pierre Loeb at the Galerie du Théâtre Pigalle in Paris will be presented at Espace Tribal in the form of a thematic exhibition. The brainchild of Nicolas Rolland and Charles Wesley-Hourdé—two young players on the tribal art market—in collaboration with Tribal Art magazine, the show will reunite a selection of artworks that were displayed at this historic event, the impact of which was decisive in developing a taste and a market for tribal art. The inclusion of archival documents and photographs will enhance the presentation. The 1930 show will also be the subject of morning lecture programs at Café Tribal and the evening discussions that have made Espace Tribal well known as a place for reflection and the sharing of knowledge at Parcours des Mondes.

THEMATIC EXHIBITIONS
On first blush, Parcours des Mondes may appear to be a trip through time to experience the mores and cultures of an exotic “other,” as perceived from the perspective of the “self” with which we are so familiar. However, in reality the event invites us to take an internal journey to consider themes and issues that are fundamentally universal but to which approaches vary from continent to continent. The focused exhibitions that will be presented by a number of Parcours des Mondes’ galleries are a manifestation of this concept. The fair demonstrates that art is the reflection of human experience without limits or borders, in which representation and ritual provide portals to the incomprehensible and sacred phenomenon of life.

The exhibitions that galleries are planning for the 2018 Parcours des Mondes will touch on the subjects of magic and the supernatural, since it is the very limits of our intellect that cause us to search our souls through artistic expression in the quest for answers to our eternal questions.