At first view, there is nothing that might connect an Art Brut sculpture by Judith Scott with a Nikisi divination statue from Congo, an eighteenth-century German reliquary or Annette Messager's net of votive photographs, and yet despite their origins in different lands, cultures, expressions and eras, there are surprising overlaps in the materials and techniques used, and in the process behind their creation. All these objects display striking analogies in the entwining, entangling and knotting of hemp cord, hair, strips of leather, gold threads, blades of grass, raffia, rope and fabric. Whether organic, plant or metal, these fibres are ingeniously assembled, stitched, woven or knotted together into inextricable meshes that are also highly symbolic objects. For indeed these resemblances go beyond form and technique: each piece is instilled with healing, purifying or protective powers that will drive away evil, endowing them with a spiritual, religious or magical role. Do their makers believe they will help them communicate with a world beyond the here below?

Inextricabilia sets out to unsnarl these twists and tangles that give form to the sentient, the incommunicable and the elusive. It invites the public to wander among creations with multiple imbrications that provoke a physical reaction, getting beneath the skin to make an almost visceral connection.

Inextricabilia will show works of Art Brut, African ritual objects, religious art, folk art, modern and contemporary art.
The body of work, yet to be finalised, will include objects and artworks by Arthur Bispo do Rosario, Pierrette Bloch, Cathryn Boch, Louise Bourgeois, Peter Buggenhout, Antonio Dalla Valle, Heide de Bruyne, Teresa Ottallo, Lisette H., Sheela Gowda, Marie Lieb, Jean Loubressanes, Man Ray, Angus MacPhee, Annette Messager, Marc Moret, Michel Nedjar, Man Ray, Virginie Rebetez, Judith Scott, Pascal Tassini, Jeanne Tripier, Giuseppe Versino, Chen Zhen, and numerous anonymous creators from public and private collections across Europe, Brasil and Californy : including Musée du Quai Branly (Paris, France), Musée de l’Homme (Paris, France), MuCEM (Marseilles, France), LaM (Villeneuve d’Ascq, France), Trésors de ferveur (Chalon sur Saône), Collection de l’Art Brut (Lausanne, Switzerland), Collection abcd (Paris, France), the Prinzhorn Collection (Heidelberg, Germany), Museu Bispo do Rosário (Rio de Janeiro) and collections held by psychiatric institutions in Switzerland, France, Italy and Hungary.

With the support of Pro Helvetia