Moon Tears: Mapuche Art and Cosmology – A selection of works from the Domeyko Cassel Collection

Moon Tears: Mapuche Art and Cosmology
A selection of works from the Domeyko Cassel Collection, Santiago, Chile.

Curated by: Thomas Dillehay

Americas Society’s exhibition elucidated the meaning of the symbolic, social, and artistic landscape of Mapuche culture and history. The Araucanians, known today as the Mapuche, successfully resisted European intrusion longer than any indigenous society in American history until they were defeated by the Chilean army in the 1890s. The exhibition presented objects from the Domeyko Cassel Collection that reflect the high quality of cultural materialism, religious fervor, and political power of the Mapuche in the late 1800s and early 1900s, as well as pre-Colombian Andean influences from the north from as early as the 1400s.

The textiles and silver jewelry of the Domeyko Cassel Collection reflect directly on the historical contacts of the Mapuche with outsiders and on Mapuche cosmology and religion. A core symbolic focus of the artifacts is the practices that link the living with their ancestors and deities. One way of communicating this is through ritual performances directed by machi shamans and participated in by entire local communities. The consistent continuity in form, function, and meaning of objects in the collection and their artistic expressions permits us to extend our interpretation of the past. This exhibition presents a holistic and artistic approach to understanding of Mapuche society and culture. Through these objects we can partially recover the Mapuche’s view of their past as preserved in the artistic and materially symbolic representation of their land, history and society.

• Read an exclusive interview with Dr. Thomas Dillehay.
• Access information about the exhibition catalogue.
• See a slideshow of the exhibition below. (Photos: Arturo Sanchez)

Americas Society gratefully acknowledges Empresas CMPC and El Mercurio for their generous support of Moon Tears: Mapuche Art and Cosmology and accompanying public programs.

Americas Society gratefully acknowledges the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs for their support of the Visual Arts Program.