Paris

Parcours des Mondes: ethnic art bridges the Hudson and the Seine

Gallerists satisfied with sales in different price ranges

by Antonio Aimi

21 September 2025

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Key points

The power of galleries
Results
Exhibitions
The art of the present

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Once again this year, the Parcours des Mondes in Paris confirmed themselves as the central event in the field of the ethnic art market by showcasing the trends that have been gaining ground in recent years in the world's leading anthropology museums, highlighting the cultural traits of the past still present in today's non-European societies. It is important to remember that the Parcours were born in 2002, just when the opening of the Pavillon des Sessions in the Louvre, which Il Sole 24 Ore was the first to present in Italy, finally began to make people realise that the finds of 'other' cultures were in some cases also works of art and not just ethnographic documents. "This 24th edition comes at a historic moment, between the reopening of the Michael C. Rockefeller of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, dedicated to the arts of Africa, the Pre-Columbian Americas and Oceania," explains Yves-Bernard Debie, director of the Parcours, - and the forthcoming opening at the Louvre of the Five Continents Gallery, which will take the place of the Pavillon des Sessions. I would say that the Parcours des Mondes builds a bridge between these two banks, that of the Hudson and that of the Seine'.

Consistent with these trends, 'other' contemporary art played an important role in this year's Parcours. Although works by artists from today's non-European societies were already present in previous editions, this year some galleries enlivened the Paris event much more brilliantly than usual. These artists included Seyni Awa Camara (Senegal), Estevao Mucavele (Mozambique), Abou Traoré (Burkina Faso), Vitshois Mwilambwe Bondo and Raymond Tsham (Democratic Republic of Congo). However, despite the contribution of contemporary art, the Parcours were not disrupted and continued to present the art of 'other' cultures in an extraordinary way.

L’arte etica a Parcours conquista Parigi
Photogallery13 foto

The strength of the tunnels

A total of 51 galleries participated this year. French exhibitors, who, as always, play a predominant role, were joined by those from Belgium (11), Spain (4) and other countries. As in recent years, this edition saw only one Italian presence with the Dalton Somaré gallery from Milan, which offered works from India and sub-Saharan Africa for sale.

Once again this year, the Parcours, in collaboration with Christie's, were enriched with the Pierre Moos prize, the collector and businessman who had directed them from 2008 until his death. The prize, which is aimed at highlighting the most interesting publication on non-European cultures that came out 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. Overall, almost all the galleries specialised in African and Oceanic art. There was no shortage, however, of those offering Asian or American or Ancient Egyptian exhibits. Prices ranged from one million to a few hundred euros.

The results

All the gallery owners said that the results of this edition were positive, although some, more than in previous years, complained about the weight of wars involving countries with few but very rich collectors. For his part, Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière, President of Honour of the Parcours and patron of the arts with a leading role at the Louvre and the MQBJC (Musée du Quai Branly Jacques Chirac) said: "Once again this year, the exhibition confirmed Paris' role as the world capital of non-European arts, with the best gallery owners and art dealers presenting their works in this open-air museum. This judgement is also confirmed in substance by Vittorio Carini, an expert and collector of African art, who explained to us: 'As I have been following the Parcours since the beginning, I can say that this year's edition was very good, even if I had the impression that the presence of American collectors was not exceptional, perhaps because they might have been discouraged by the bureaucratic bureaucratic hassles that political correctness imposes today'.

Turning to the results in detail, it can be said that all the gallery owners contacted stated that they were very satisfied, as they saw the presence of collectors from the United States, Australia and other European countries. Some also added that some of their most important works were sold immediately after the opening and that this was the best edition since the pandemic. "For me, the balance of this edition of the Parcours was very positive," said Julien Flak, "because: I concluded about fifteen sales of African, Oceanic and American works, including Dogon, Malagan and Kachina Hopi sculptures, at prices ranging from a minimum of EUR 2,500 to a maximum of over EUR 50,000.

The owners of the Dalton Somaré gallery, who, among other things, presented a Maori mace and a Bamana headdress at EUR 29,000 and EUR 18,000, said: "The 2025 edition of Parcours is once again a key moment for collectors who are passionate about Art Premier. In addition to the many French, Belgians, Dutch, Germans and Italians, who are never lacking, we also met Americans who did not shy away from coming. The contacts and consequently the results were therefore more than decent, and the rule that beautiful works of art always sell is confirmed again this year. Among the high-end works were a beautiful Luba-Shankadi sculpture and an anthropo-zoomorphic figure from the lower Sepik offered by Schoffel at €220,000 and €65,000; an important fetish with nails Nkisi N'Kondi offered by Doustar at €180,000; an impressive 13th century Japanese sculpture offered by Mingei at €120,000 and a Kota Obamba reliquary keeper offered by Claessens at €90,000. Moving on to the mid-range priced exhibits, we have a more diversified panorama, where a Bamilike mask at €45,000 (Doustar), two Bamana masks at €28,000 and €15,000 (Castellano and Montagut), a Yaka fetish at €20,000 (Pujol) and a Punuk amulet at €16,500 (Meyer) and a Makira command staff at €11,500 (Meyer) stand out. Making careful choices, even among the less expensive exhibits there were opportunities to buy interesting works such as a Chokwe chair at €8,000 (Pujol) and the bronze sculptures by Abu Trauré (Person), which are works of abstract art, were offered at around €8,500.

The Exhibitions

Some galleries also had thematic exhibitions. One of the most important, 'Two Rivers', was organised by the Arte y Ritual gallery. In the exhibition, which also featured a beautiful catalogue, artefacts from the peoples settled along the Benue (Nigeria) and Sepik (Papua New Guinea) rivers were presented to highlight some common artistic characteristics of the works of these cultures. In particular, the gallery owners, Ana and Antonio Casanovas, said: "The exhibition attracted great interest from the public even before the opening, when our most important clients received the printed catalogue. Some of them even made or booked purchases after seeing it. The price of two of the most important works of art, a Sepik statuette from Kopar and an ancient M'Boye from Nigeria, exceeded EUR 1 million, while other works, such as the Sepik pigment bowl (Papua New Guinea) or the Ibibio mask (Nigeria), were presented at prices of EUR 120,000 and EUR 180,000 respectively'.

Another very important thematic exhibition was organised by the Lucas Ratton gallery, which presented several West African combs, which, as Ratton himself stated, 'constitute the most important private collection of combs ever presented to the public. Coming mainly from the Ashanti, Attié and Baoulé cultures, but also from the Bété, Gouro and Dan, these works illustrate the rich creativity and elegance of the ancient arts of African adornment'.

The Art of the Present

Turning to the Contemporary art galleries, Philippe Boutté of the Magnin-a gallery, which specialises in African Contemporary art and offered sculptures and paintings, including a statue by Seyni Awa Camara at €40,000, commented: "This year we participated in the Parcours des Mondes for the first time, with the objective of verifying whether our Contemporary art proposals could attract classic art lovers. A salon certainly aims to make sales, but above all to meet new collectors. Although the volume of sales was satisfactory, we regret that we did not expand our clientele".