Paris

Parcours des Mondes confirms itself as a beacon of ethnic art

In the XXIII edition focus on the relationship with the Surrealists. Gallerists satisfied with sales and presence of American collectors

by Antonio Aimi

18 September 2024

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Ascia di prestigio Songye del XIX secolo venduta dalla galleria Dalton Somarè a circa 30.000 euro. Courtesy galleria Dalton-Somarè

4' min read

Key points

In the gallery and museum
Exchanges

4' min read

From 10 to 15 September, the 23rd edition of the Parcours des Mondes was held in Paris, which, as our readers know, is the world's most important event in the field of ethnic art.

This year's chairman of honour was Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière, a collector who recounted how he was introduced to African art by Jacques Chirac when the latter was mayor of the French capital and then oversaw the creation of the MQBJC (Musée du Quai Branly Jacques Chirac), which, not surprisingly, now bears the former president's name.

As last year, the direction of the Parcours was entrusted to Yves-Bernard Debie, who, commenting on the recently concluded edition, told Il Sole 24 Ore: 'The XXIII edition of Parcours des Mondes was, once again, a great year! Over sixty merchants from all over the world built bridges between cultures, continents and eras. We expected 10,000 visitors and were not disappointed, despite the slightly capricious weather and the approaching end of the Paralympic Games. The exhibitors worked well, I know this for sure, not only because they crossed paths with collectors, who clutched their last carefully packed purchase to them, but also because the dealers all showed that quiet smile that says a lot. Like last year, the Parcours des Mondes gave an increasingly important place to contemporary art, especially African art'.

This judgement was also confirmed by Alex Arthur, Artistic Director of Parcours: "This year's balance is very positive with some important sales in all areas, this result was due to the fact that the quality of certain exhibitions made by the gallerists this year was extraordinary.

Alongside the French and Belgian galleries, which, as always, play a central role in the Parcours, the 2024 edition also saw the presence of four Spanish and three US galleries. Furthermore, it is significant to note that one gallery from the Ivory Coast and one from Thailand were present. The only Italian presence was that of Dalton Somaré from Milan (via Borgonuovo 5).

Almost all of them specialised in African and Oceanic art, although there was no shortage of those presenting only Asian, American and archaeological exhibits.

Kachina Hopi della collezione di André Breton venduta dalla galleria Flak a oltre 30.000 euro. Courtesy galleria Flak

In the gallery and museum

Since 2024 is the anniversary of André Breton's Manifesto of Surrealism and since the Centre Pompidou, precisely during the Parcours, organised the exhibition 'Surréalisme', which will run until 13 January 2025, several dealers have reintroduced the relationship between the Surrealists and ethnic art with thematic exhibitions. The most important of these was 'Zones de contact. Surréalisme, Afrique, Océanie, Amérique' organised by the Wesley Hourdé gallery in partnership with the Centre Pompidou itself, the Association André Breton and the Comité des Galeries d'Art.

In addition, the 2024 edition of the Parcours, in collaboration with Christie's, was enriched with the Pierre Moos prize, the collector and businessman who had directed them from 2008 until his death. The prize, which aims to highlight the most interesting publication on non-European cultures published in the previous 12 months, was awarded toVirginia-Lee Webb, for her book "An English Girl in New Guinea", which presents the events of an anthropologist's expedition to New Guinea in 1914.

In parallel, as part of their openness to contemporary non-European art, the Parcours, in collaboration with the Huberty & Breyne gallery, gave François Avril 'carte blanche' to create a series of canvases and drawings freely inspired by 'other' works.

Figura Teke venduta dalla galleria Spectandum a oltre i 50.000 euro. Courtesy galleria Spectandum

The exchanges

Since at events such as the Parcours, unlike at auctions, there is great confidentiality about prices and sales, it seems appropriate to give the floor to the most willing gallery owners, starting with Tommaso Vigorelli of the Dalton Somarè Gallery: "Once again this year, the Parcours des Mondes was attended by the world's most important ethnic art dealers and many collectors, large, medium and small. And for everyone it is an irreplaceable opportunity. In this situation everyone plays their cards. As far as our gallery is concerned, I can say that we met a lot of people, in particular we saw that, even more than last year, many collectors came back from the United States. Of course there were also many Europeans, who came from Germany, Switzerland, Italy and other countries. As every year, we presented works from sub-Saharan Africa and the Himalayan area, and an important Songye prestige axe from the 19th century sold for about 30,000'.

Along the same lines, Julien Flak, of the Paris gallery of the same name, said that his North American artefacts attracted considerable interest. In particular, his gallery sold both several ancient Inuit ivories for between €6,000 and €50,000 and more than twenty kachinas (the typical Hopi figurines), including one from André Breton's collection, which fetched over €30,000.

Maschera Woyo-Congo della collezione Cyrille Houzé presentata dalla galleria Arte Primitivo con una stima compresa tra i 50.000 e gli 80.000 euro. Courtesy galleria Arte Primitivo

Other dealers pleased with the results of this edition of Parcours include Fernando Pujol of the Arte Primitivo gallery in Barcelona and Bernand de Grunne of the eponymous gallery in Brussels. The former presented a Woyo-Congo mask from the Cyrille Houzé collection with an estimate between €50,000 and €80,000, while the latter sold a Kulango maternity at €30,000 and six Baganda vases, three of which went to museums, between €10,000 and €30,000.

Figura Kulango venduta dalla galleria De Grunne a 30.000 euro. Courtesy galleria De Grunne

As is normal, a slightly different assessment of the collectors' attendance was given by a few other gallerists. These include Martin Doustar, whose gallery sold a Dan mask for EUR 50,000 and a Nkisi nail fetish for EUR 500,000. The same valuation was also made by Guy Kuypers, of the gallery Spectandum, who told us that he offered the smallest pieces for less than €3,000 and the most important ones, including a Teke figure, for over €50,000.