The Americas Society gallery is free and open to the public, Wednesday - Saturday, 12-6pm. The gallery is located on 680 Park Avenue, at 68th street, New York, NY 10065. This exhibit is on display until October 23, 2010.
Currently on display at the Americas Society is a grand look at some pre-Colombian treasures: Art and Myth in Ancient Peru: The History of the Jequetepeque Valley. This exhibition, organized by the Museo de Arte de Lima (MALI), presents an important selection of objects that span from the time of the Cupisnique Culture to the Inca conquest. The pieces exhibited were produced in the Jequetepeque Valley of Peru for over 3,000 years, showing the developments that took place in the Northern region. This is the first time these treasures travel outside of Peru.
At different times in its history, the Jequetepeque Valley formed part of the Mochica, Lambayeque, and Chimú states, and finally, of the Inca Empire. The societies that flourished there maintained certain autonomy with respect to these great developments. Their social organization and pottery styles thus preserved specific and differentiated cultural characteristics and represent a system of beliefs based on a universe of images and symbols that are expressed in the pieces exhibited, many of which are considered masterpieces of pre-Columbian art.
Watch a video of the Guest Curator Cecilia Pardo Grau and exhibition designer Juan Carlos Burga discussing the creative process involved in customizing the Americas Society gallery for the exhibition.
