Prehistomania

You are not in a cave but a museum! From 17 November 2023 to 20 May 2024, the Musée de l'Homme, in partnership with the Frobenius Institute for research in cultural anthropology (Francfort-sur-le-Main), explores cave and rock art from a brand new perspective, through their reproductions. More than 200 documents and objects, including some sixty tracings, offer visitors a global overview. Beyond these works, the exhibition immerses you into the expeditions themselves and brings these tracings, that inspire modern-day artists, into the world of contemporary art.

Tracings, priceless evidence of prehistoric art

During the first scientific expeditions to research the origins of mankind, artists reproduced the cave paintings they observed. Thanks to their paintings on canvas or paper, the whole world was thus able to appreciate the fascinating paintings and engravings done by humans thousands of years ago.

It wasn’t long before these reproductions were exhibited at various museums. In the 1930s, for instance, the German ethnologist and archaeologist, Leo Frobenius, began displaying such works on his return from some extraordinary expeditions. Among others exhibitions, there was one at the Trocadero Ethnography Museum… which would later become the Museum of Mankind. That wrapped it up. Everyone could now see the modernity of prehistoric art, which had strong similarities with the productions of that era.

Cave art across the world

Take a journey to Southern Africa, Chad, North Africa, Papua and Europe. The huge scale of the items exhibited here plunges you into another time and place. You’ll feel as if you’re ‘entering the caves’ and experience for yourself the sense of awe felt by the first explorers who saw these beautiful sights.

These tracings come from the fabulous collections of the Frobenius Institute of Frankfurt as well as the Museum of Mankind collections.

Expeditions for science, an adventure for art

The exhibition also documents the voyages of these explorers with the help of photographs. True adventures in their time, these missions reflect the increasing enthusiasm for Prehistoric studies. And such tracings have largely contributed to bringing the knowledge out of the caves.

Besides their artistic dimension, these tracings are of inestimable scientific and historic value. In many cases, they are the sole evidence of cave paintings from the Neolithic period, which have deteriorated with the passing of time. They also help us appreciate how the landscape has evolved, following changes in the environmental conditions.

Although the first tracings date from the early 20th century, the exhibition also strives to communicate on modern techniques for transposing and conserving cave paintings.

The Museum of Mankind is part of a network called La Colline des Arts. Eleven cultural institutions based around the Chaillot hill, including the Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine, the Navy Museum and the Musée d’Art moderne de Paris, with the tour Eiffel, in the background, have united to offer greater visibility and conducive conditions. An opportunity to visit even more expositions à Paris Region.