Ice Age Art: arrival of the modern mind at the British Museum

Yesterday your scribe attended the press preview of the British Museum’s new exhibition Ice Age Art: arrival of the modern mind. The exhibition explores sculpture and drawings during the last European Ice Age (circa 40,000 – 10,000 years ago) and the “modern” mind that made them. But man’s been making marks much longer. Homo sapiens’ peripatetic journey brought our species to Europe around 43,000 years ago where they handily supplanted the rag-tag remnants of Neanderthal man. With competition between human species eliminated, our ancestors had a bit more spare time to whittle bone, carve stones and engrave flakes of mammoth ivory with decorative animal scenes and human likenesses. Life was good. Or at least getting better.

The period the exhibition covers is rich in stunning iconography and sophisticated techniques. Whoever carved The Lion-Man was able to deftly engineer the legs to take advantage of the hollow area of the mammoth tusk bone from which it’s carved. Smart. And while there are no textiles from this period, the exhibition includes references to wall art in the Lascaux and Niaux caves – art which dates back approximately 17,000 years. Lascaux was discovered in 1940 and by 1948 visitors clamoured to get inside. Inspired by the international fame of the caves, Olga Fisch, who founded the famous Folklore store in Ecuador, designed her 1950s series of Caverna rugs which includes Lascaux’s well-known spotted bull’s head in the rug’s upper register. DJ

Olga Fisch, Lascaux Cave inspired 1950s wool “Caverna” rug

Belén Mena designs celebrate Ecuador’s winged beauties

A sleek splash in the Olympic pool by Samantha Arevalo Salinas of Ecuador in the women’s 800-meter freestyle heat yesterday inspired your scribe to refresh her interest in Ecuadorean rugs (alfombras).

Olga Fisch was a significant figure in the global promotion and national protection of Ecuadorean crafts, particularly rugs. She founded Quito’s Folklore shop – a commissioning agency and museum for national craft – and designed many rugs alongside other designers including award winning contemporary designer Belén Mena.

Mena’s moth designs are striking. Ecuador’s biodiversity includes multiple moth species from the Cloud Forest reserve near Quito. Mena doesn’t confine these winged beauties to rugs, but has created a diverse line of products. Don’t read Spanish? Don’t worry – visit this link as the beautiful photos of Mena’s graphics on rugs, wall hangings and bags need no words (plus the site is in English). The bag designs are muy covetable! Discard any preconceived notions of what moth designs look like. Soak in Mena’s interpretations which are both “national” and “international”, which in your scribe’s opinion makes these classics. DJ