For its tenth showing of a private collection, la maison rouge invites David Walsh, founder of the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) in Tasmania and the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG). Curator Jean-Hubert Martin has delved into David Walsh's own collection, as well as that of the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG), to show together apparently "heterogeneous" objects and question museal conventions.
Titled Theatre of the World in reference to Giulio Camillo's Theatre of Memory for François I, the exhibition sets out to suggest alternatives to the prevailing historical discourse. It transforms the viewer into an instrument for actively investigating and understanding the world.
Theatre of the World shows non-Western works cabinet of curiosities pieces, antiquities, ancient art and works by contemporary artists including Marina Abramovic, Berlinde de Bruyckere, Jake & Dinos Chapman, Wim Delvoye, Emily, Damien Hirst, Zilvinas Kempinas, Iannis Kounellis, Juul Kraijer, Sidney Nolan, Claude Rutault, Markus Schinwald, Jason Shulman, Felice Varini, Sandra Vásquez de la Horra, Erwin Wurm and Ah Xian.
The exhibition strikes relations, whether corresponding or contrasting, between the form or meaning of these works of different origins. Unexpected resemblances are brought to light through themes such as eyes, body, double or war. An entire gallery is given over to an outstanding collection of Polynesian and Melanesian tapa cloths from the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery collection.