I visited Bogota's National Museum yesterday afternoon, and was treated to two fine exhibitions. The first show, Sipan: El Ultimo Tesuro de America, displayed beautiful gold and turquoise burial jewelery and pottery excavated from the Sipan site in northern Peru. Sipan was once the economic and religious seat of the Moche people, who occupied Peru's Lambayeque Valley in the first centuries of the common era. Recently, the tomb of the so-called Lord of Sipan was discovered unmolested by grave robbers. The treasures discovered there have shed considerable light on the Moche's burial rites. Previously, archaeologists could only speculate on the burial ceremony based on pictures found on excavated pottery.
Mixed in with the museum's permanent collection of traditional portraiture are the arresting photographs of Libia Posada. Blown-up to size and framed in classical style, Posada's portraits of battered women in Medellin are peppered throughout the galleries to great effect. The photographs depict both the bruises and sadness of victims of domestic violence, made all the more startling next to the dignified poses of the country's war heroes and gentry.
The Sipan show closes at the end of the month. Posada's photographs will be on show until November 7th.
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