PARIS.- Aesthetics of the Amur, far-eastern Siberia is the first big exhibition to enhance the exceptional aesthetic dimension of the decorative art of the peoples of the Amur River basin, Sakhalin and the island of Hokkaido.

Jewels of the Asiatic collections of the musée du quai Branly, the ancient pieces collected in these remote regions at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, partaking of the area of interaction between the human world, savage nature and the spirit world, still raise today a peculiar fascination.

Divided between “designer works” and “high fashion” more than 100 works at once mysterious and fragile reveal the subtle dialogue that these hunter-fishers have with nature.

Protective fish skin coats, unprecedented bags and accessories in bark, scaly skins, downy furs, ritual pieces in labyrinthine whirls and spirals, these works have been brought together in a contemporary scenography that sublimates the lines, colors and textures of a sensual and refined decorative art appropriate as inspiration for the most modern designers.

While Paris is welcoming COP21 from November 30th to December 11th 2015, the 21st Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the exhibition Aesthetics of the Amur, fareastern Siberia is highlighting the diversity of the relationships that the peoples of the Amur river basin as far as the islands of Sakhalin and Hokkaido have with their natural environment.

ON THE PEOPLES OF THE FISH
There exists on either side of the North Pacific Ocean a real “salmon culture”, which transcends geographical frontiers and characterizes the nations of fishermen who live in harmony with the seasonal migrations of these cold water fish, a source of life. For these peoples who, on the continent of Asia, live on the banks of the big rivers, streams and lakes of far eastern Siberia and next to the sea, the salmon is the main source of life and prosperity. Salmon fishing is a strong element in cultural identity, imparting a structure to these minority populations, formerly thought of by the Chinese as the faraway “Tatars – Fish skins”.

This major feature of cultural identity allows the various populations of hunter-fishers in the region along the Amur River as far as the islands of Hokkaido and Sakhalin to link up with one another. Nivkh, Äynu, Nanaïs, Oroks… all undoubtedly possessing specific characteristics, but the same methods of hunting and fishing for salmonidae and an animist matrix that imparts a structure to their respective relationships with the natural world and the visible and invisible entities that live in it.

The sensual dimension as a key for reading these works
The exhibition intends to be a personal encounter with each work to the closest proximity of the material used. It offers an encounter with an unexpectedly refined and sensual aesthetic, made up of purified cuts and lines, of unprecedented lights and textures which are subtly revealed behind the purity of a curve, the hint of a hue, the rustle of a skin, the reflection of a scale… A walkthrough to discover the art of ethnographic works, anonymous works of shy, intimate beauty, hiding virtuosities of gesture, enchanted messages, precious secrets. The walkthrough preaches emotion with regard to the work in its materiality and its surprising originality as a key for a creative encounter with the Other.

FISH SKIN COATS
Fish skin coats brought back from collections in the west by travellers and explorers in the 19th century are very rare and raise great interest with the finesse and the complexity of the traditional technique of work on various skins to make the garment and adorn it with complex decorations.

The musée du quai Branly maintains a collection of six coats of exceptional quality.

CLOTHING ONESELF WITH NATURE, A STORY OF SKINS
Traditionally, the peoples of the Amur River basin made their clothes with materials taken from various species vegetable or animal. The skin of fish was the material of choice for the making of boots, bags and big coats. Materials to which could be added fibers woven from bark, furs and feathers. The magic of the seamstresses revealed in forms and colors the complex network of relationships between man and nature.

A “haute couture” restoration
The organic materials that are fish skins and shaped barks, structurally very fragile, present very specific constraints for conservation purposes. The alterations undergone over time by fish skin clothes and works in bark, have marred their readability and rendered dangerous all manipulation. The project of conservationrestoration executed on the occasion of the exhibition AESTHETICS OF THE AMUR, far-eastern Siberia, was guided by Daria Cevoli, the curator of the exhibition and responsible for the musée du quai Branly on the basis of a scientific protocol elaborated on the basis of new ethnographical knowledge about the materials for the making of the works and above all the cultural significance of each detail. This knowledge allowed us to lead targeted and coherent interventions into the aim of safeguarding this rare and spectacular collection. Thanks to the implementation of ground-breaking techniques, these works have found again their splendour. The elaboration of a protocol for preventive conservation measures will allow us to ensure the conservation of these unique works long term, both to be presented and to be kept in reserve.

A SIGNIFICANT AND TIMELESS DESIGN
Next to the clothes, the accessories for sewing and works making, always finely decorated and combining a symbolic dimension with an unrecognized ritual charge, illustrate the spiritual dimension linked to the making of these clothes, bodies of men and armor of spirits Other works in birch bark adorned with characteristic motifs in whirls are associated with a ritual to do with the bear and aquatic spirits. They plunge the visitor into a mysterious labyrinth of whirls, scales and spirals which is richly illustrated and documented.

Because contemporary aesthetics in a dimension of sustainable development is always more in harmony with nature and sensitive to the rediscovery of natural materials, these unique creations in animal and vegetable skins speak to us on an emotional level. The detail of the gesture in the material, the subtle dialogue with the natural world and a refined knowledge that they bring into play, surprise and fascinate.

The shapes, textures and materials interrogate our relationship to the object and to its materiality, making our categories and frontiers relative and opening our gaze to a knowledge that is far away.