Peru: A Journey in Time at The British Museum in collaboration with Museo de Arte de Lima

 

Miniature gold figure of a llama, Peru, Inca, about 1500. © 2021 The Trustees of the British Museum

 
 

PERU
A Journey in Time

November 11, 2021 — February 20, 2022

 

Step into the vibrant world of Peru and discover how people have thrived for millennia in one of the most complex and challenging environments on the planet.

Marking Peru’s bicentennial year of independence, this exhibition highlights the history, beliefs, and cultural achievements of the different peoples who lived here from around 2500 BC to the arrival of Europeans in the 1500s, and their legacy in the centuries that followed.

From Peru’s early indigenous peoples to the ill-fated Inca, discover how past cultures were shaped by the diverse landscapes of the central Andes, flourishing at some of the highest altitudes and in some of the driest deserts on earth. Find out how they developed unique approaches to time, agriculture, economy, and power, some of which endure today. 

The exhibition features objects from the British Museum’s collection, including ceramics, precious metals, textiles, and ritual paraphernalia, as well as extraordinary pieces borrowed from Peru itself. Striking, large-scale photography and videos of iconic sites, including the Nasca geoglyphs and Machu Picchu, will also give visitors a vivid sense of place and an appreciation of the artistic and architectural prowess of ancient Andean cultures.

 
 
 

Click the image below to watch the curators’ introduction to the Peru: A Journey in Time exhibition.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Exhibition Highlights

 

Gold alloy and shell ear plates with feline features, Peru, 800–550 BC. Museo Kuntur Wasi.

Gold alloy headdress with elaborate feline heads, Peru, 800–550 BC. Museo Kuntur Wasi.

Mantle depicting human figures with feline mouth masks holding severed heads. Early Nasca 100 BC-AD 100. Museo de Arte de Lima. Prado Family Bequest. Restored with a grant from the Bank of America Art Conservation Project.

Painted pottery vessel in the form of a warrior holding a club and a shield, Peru, Moche AD 100–600. © 2021 The Trustees of the British Museum

Chancay-Inca painted tunic, Peru, 1000-1470. © 2021 The Trustees of the British Museum

Pottery ceremonial drum depicting a mythical scene, Peru, Nasca, 100 BC-AD 650. Private collection on loan to the Museo de Arte de Lima. Photo by Daniel Giannoni

Ritual cape in the form of a feline, Moche, Peru, AD 200-600. Museo ‘Santiago Uceda Castillo’ — Proyecto Arqueológico Huacas de Moche, Perú.

Tasselled textile fragment with embroidered hummingbirds, early Nasca, Peru, 100 BC-AD 200. © 2021 The Trustees of the British Museum

Vessel of a man and woman copulating Nasca 100 BC-AD 650 Pottery. © The Trustees of the British Museum

Vase, stirrup-spout vessel, human head figurine made of pottery, Peru, Moche, AD 100-700. © 2021 The Trustees of the British Museum

Kero drinking vessel with a painted scene showing a human figure wearing both Western and Inca attire, Colonial 18th century. © 2021 The Trustees of the British Museum

Copper and shell funerary mask, Peru, Moche, AD 100–800. Museo de Arte de Lima, Peru. Donated by James Reid.

Figure depicting a bound prisoner, Moche, Peru, AD 100-800. © 2021 The Trustees of the British Museum

Pottery vessel in the shape of a contorted body, Peru, Cupisnique,1200–500 BC. Museo de Arte de Lima. Donated by Petrus and Verónica Fernandini. Photo by Daniel Giannoni

Ceremonial Wari shirt, Wari, Peru, AD 500-800. Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Ethnologisches Museum. Photo by Claudia Obrocki.

Vessel depicting a human figure in a reed boat, Moche, Peru, AD 100-800. Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Ethnologisches Museum.

Vessel depicting a mythical scene with a deer on top, Peru, Moche, AD 100–800. © 2021 The Trustees of the British Museum

Miniature figure, Peru, Inca, AD 1400–1532. © 2021 The Trustees of the British Museum

 
News 8, Exhibitions 1Editorial TeamArt of the Ancestors, Steven G. Alpert, Asian Art, Island Southeast Asian Art, Oceanic Art, Asiatica, Ethnographica, Ethnographic Art, Art Collection, Fine Art, Primitive Art, Indonesian Art, Tribal Art, Eyes of the Ancestors, Dr. Reimar Schefold