The Incas, Treasures of Peru

Pointe-à-Callière Museum, Montreal

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The Incas, Treasures of Peru

Threads of Time: The Inca Legacy and Treasures of Peru

“The Incas, Treasures of Peru” is a temporary exhibit at Pointe à Callière Montréal Archaeology and History Complex, presented in partnership with the Royal Museums of Art and History, Brussels. This 8,000 square foot exhibit examines the history of Peruvian culture through the lens of textile. Entro worked with the Museum, exhibit fabricator Expozone, lighting designer Light Factor, and interactive consultant Gagarin to display over 300 artifacts including jewellery, textiles, ceramics, ritual objects, and architectural elements.
  • Client

    Pointe-à-Callière Museum

  • Location

    Montreal, Ontario

  • Sector

    Cultural

  • Discipline

    Exhibit Design, Experiential Graphics

  • Design Collaborators

    Expozone Light Factor Gagarin

  • Photography

    Entro

An Interactive Journey

Our goal was to make visitors feel as though they are immersed in ancient Peru – and so we built a world around the artifacts, filled with life-size reproductions, large-scale images, projections, sound, video, tactile materials, and interactive activities.

The Cultural Power of Textiles

Textiles and feather ornaments were more valuable than gold in the Inca world, weaving together social, economic, artistic, and religious life. Threads literally run through the exhibit tying different scenes together: both physical and graphic, the threads lead patrons from area to area, guiding them on a journey through time from pre-Inca civilizations through to the Inca art and cultural influences that survive in the modern day.

For the Inca, birds embodied the gods; feathers were often depicted in art and architecture and used to decorate clothing, tapestry, and jewellery.
Carousel

This reconstructed Chan Chan wall from the Chimú period shows how architectural motifs were directly inspired by textile art. The simplified bird, fish, and wave motifs are depicted as if they had been woven.

An Enduring Legacy

Near the end of the exhibit, we explore a Peruvian marketplace of today, full of textiles and clothing that incorporate ancient colours, styles, and patterns.

Weaving Through Time

A spectacular interactive finale concludes the exhibit, inviting children and adults to select from 80 different ancient patterns and digitally weave a digital tapestry by sliding a shuttle across the table. Every time a pattern is added, the tapestry projected throughout the whole room shifts.

Find out more about the exhibit from the Pointe à Callière Museum.

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