librito 27/1/11 17:25 Página 1 TRAVELLERS THROUGH KNOWLEDGE · librito 27/1/11 10:17 Página 2....

TRAVELLERSTHROUGH KNOWLEDGE

librito 27/1/11 17:25 Página 1

T he 1920s and 1930s were undoubtedly the timeof great journeys, when a certain passion for thefurther learning about distant civilizations, in

time and in space, was consolidated. Thus, facingbook learning, a first-hand knowledge was establishedwhich created legends around archaeologists, geog-raphers, anthropologists, or men of action, namesthat transformed the perception of contemporaneity.

Many of those names that renewed knowledge gavelectures at the Residencia de Estudiantes, settingforth an aspect of basic knowledge in order to under-stand the educational task that the institution hadproposed itself since its beginnings: day trips, jour-neys. Considering the early dates of those confer-ences, soon after their great discoveries and adven-tures, one could say that international events wereknown in Madrid in real time. It seems fundamentalthat one must take this into account, as we usuallyspeak of the Residencia de Estudiantes as a meetingpoint for the avant-gardes and frequently forget thatamong its many activities, the visit of those discover-ers, archaeologists and travellers between 1926 and1936 occupied an essential and systematic position.It is here where the new story could be started, sincefrom that perspective the Residencia de Estudiantesoffers a different narration than that which is usual-ly written: the starting point of the project of moder-nity in Madrid.


This exhibition tries to reconstruct the feeling ofmodernity that must have been felt by those who lis-tened about the great travels through knowledge. Forthe selection of travellers, nine, the criteria followedwas to combine those that had had a major mediaimpact, a variety of disciplines and geographicalareas, and the visibility of the fundamental interna-tional schools—British, French, and German—. Fiveof the travellers were dedicated to archaeology(Howard Carter and the discovery of the tomb ofTutankhamon; Charles Leonard Woolley and the cityof Ur; Paul Pelliot and Buddhist art; Joseph Hackinand his mission in Afghanistan, and T.A. Joyce andthe Maya culture); one to the great geographic chal-lenges (Charles G. Bruce and his assaults on MountEverest); and two to anthropology (Leo Frobeniusand the African cultures, and Francisco Iglesias andhis scientific expedition project to the Amazon).

And those sessions and lectures return to the eyesof the imagination, the excitement of those who lis-tened is revived, emotions that, among the exhibiteddocuments and objects, will try to reproduce in thesehalls of the Residencia some of the vertigo towardsknowledge that the travellers and their accounts ofthe world of the time must have arisen, and that con-tinue to fascinate in their extraordinary contempo-raneity.

ESTRELLA DE DIEGO


The archaeologist of the British Museum, T.A. Joyce,was invited by the Residencia de Estudiantes to givethe lecture “Maya Art and Culture” on December 3and 6, 1927.

The English archaeologist tackled differences andsimilarities of the ancient Maya civilization with othercivilizations describing their hieroglyphic writings,weapons, games and architecture (pyramids, walls,squares and palaces) and also listing the common fea-tures that distinguished them from other cultures(materials, building styles, etc.). The lecture includesa historical sketch of the Mayas from the Old to theNew Empire (geographical locations and ruins pre-served) as well as a summary of the Aztec civilization.

The Residencia de Estudiantes counts with the col-laboration of the British Museum and the Museo deAmérica in Madrid to select items such as human fig-ures, plates and cups decorated with different rep-resentations of the Mayan gods and Mayan stele.

C.G. BRUCE AND HIS ATTEMPTS TO CLIMB MOUNT EVEREST


Cover of the programme Climbing Mount Everest, film made by Captain J.B. Noel during the 1922 expedition.Royal Geographical Society with IBG, LondonMembers of the Mount Everest expedition at base camp, Tibet, May 3, 1922. Left to right, front row: GeorgeLeigh Mallory, George Finch, Tom Longstaff, General Bruce, E.I. Strutt and James Crawford; behind: Henry T.Morshead, Geoffrey Bruce, Arthur Wakefield, Theodore Howard Somervell, John Morris and Edward Norton.Photograph by J.B. Noel. Royal Geographical Society with IBG, London


On January 16 and 18, 1928, the French archaeolo-gist Joseph Hackin gave two lectures, with slide pro-jections, on the archaeological works in Afghanistan,at the Residencia de Estudiantes. Since 1923 he wasthe director of the Musée Guimet in Paris, and wasspecialized in Egyptian culture, classical antiquityand Asian countries, he also led the French archae-ological team in Afghanistan in 1924, which was incharge of the first excavations in the sites of Hadda,Ghazna, and around the giant Buddhas of Bamiyan,whose findings and artworks transformed the Guimetinto a model museum in Europe in regard to the artand culture of the Greater Middle East.

JOSEPH HACKIN AND HIS ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO AFGHANISTAN


Head of Buddha in stucco from the Monastery of Tapa-Kalan, Hadda, Afghanistan, 3rd-4th century, 30 cm(height). Musée Guimet, Paris. [© RMN (musée Guimet, Paris) / Thierry Ollivier]Joseph Hackin with a group of Afghan men, circa 1924. Musée Guimet, Paris. [© RMN (musée Guimet, Paris)/ image Guimet]


The French archaeologist andsinologist Paul Pelliot gave two con-ferences on Buddhist art entitled“L’art bouddhique dans les grottesde Toven-Houang” and “Lesanciens monuments du christian-isme en Asie Centrale et enExtrême-Orient,” in March 29 and30, 1928, at the Residencia de Estu-diantes. The audience followedwith great interest the account ofhis discoveries during the archae-ological expedition he led throughChinese Turkestan, where he dis-covered the Toven-Houang cavesand the old Silk Road.

For this section of the exhibitionthe Residencia counts once moreon the collaboration of the MuséeGuimet in Paris, where valuableseventh and tenth-century piecesfrom the expeditions in the caves ofDunhuang are held (from the “Mis-sion Paul Pelliot, 1906-1909” col-lection).

PAUL PELLIOT AND BUDDHIST ART

Vaishravana, Guardian King of theNorth, standing on Prthivi, Goddess ofthe Earth. Drawing of the second halfof the 13th century found by PaulPelliot in the Thousand Buddha Caves.Ink and colours on silk, 44 x 13.5 cm.Musée Guimet, Paris. [© RMN (muséeGuimet, Paris / Mathéus)]


Paul Pelliot in the chamber where he found the manuscripts from the High Middle Ages, Dunhuang, China,March 1908. Musée Guimet, Paris. [© RMN (musée Guimet, Paris) / image Guimet]


In November 1924, the Residencia de Estudiantes invit-ed Howard Carter to talk in Madrid about his and LordCarnarvon’s works in the Valley of the Kings, and thediscovery of the tomb of Tutankhamon in 1922. HowardCarter gave a lecture in the halls of the Residencia toa large audience that overflowed any estimation. Toillustrate his lecture he showed an assortment of slides

of the discovery of the tomb.Willing to show the discovery, the Residen-cia de Estudiantes organised a third lecturewith the attendance of the pupils from pub-lic schools in Madrid. The poet ManuelMachado read some notes on Egyptianstudies which resumed Carter’s lectures.

The slides and the film from the lectures,that Howard Carter had given to theResidencia as a gift, were provided toall the cultural centres and schoolsupon request, due to the interest awak-en all over Spain and South America. In1928, Howard Carter would be invited

again by the Residencia to pronouncetwo new lectures: La sepultura deTutankhamon (Tutankhamon’sburial) and La cripta interior (Theinnermost recess).

HOWARD CARTER AND HIS DISCOVERYOF THE TOMB OF TUTANKHAMON


Howard Carter examining the tomb of Tutankhamon, Valley of the Kings, Egypt,1922. Photograph by Harry Burton. Griffith Institute, University of Oxford

Bronze statuette of the God Amun, 715-332 BC, 27 cm (height). FundacióArqueològica Clos. Museu Egipci de Barcelona


Charles Leonard Woolley, British archaeologist anddirector of the expedition sponsored by the Universityof Pennsylvania with the support of the British Muse-um, discovered in 1927 the biblical city of Ur inMesopotamia, gave the lectures “The Royal Tombs ofUr and the Origins of Oriental Civilization”, “Thebes,Capital of the Orient, from the 15th to the 16th Centu-ry” and “The Old City of Ur” in March and June 1929.

Various artworks selected from the University ofPennsylvania Museum will illustrate Woolley’s expe-dition to the city of Ur. From its valuable collection“Treasures from the Royal Tombs of Ur”, the PennMuseum has lent several jewels from Queen Puabi’strousseau (a gold and lapis lazuli necklace and a gold-en rosette), a bronze bull’s head from the RoyalTombs of Ur and a golden crown with gold leaves andlapis lazuli. Likewise, the Residencia is collaborat-ing with the British Museum, which holds Woolley’spersonal archives, in order to select the documentsthat will help to put the Ur artworks into their prop-er context. Among these there will be manuscripts,the original correspondence between Woolley and theResidencia as well as pictures from the excavations.

CHARLES LEONARD WOOLLEY AND THE CITY OF UR

Gold, lapis lazuli and carnelian wreath belonging to a female attendant of queen Puabi, buried in the grave adjacentto the funeral chamber, Ur’s Royal Cemetery, in modern-day Tell al-Muqayyar, Irak. University of Pennsylvania,Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia. [Courtesy of the Penn Museum, image B16705]

Sir Charles Leonard Woolley unearthing a piece, 1930-1931. Courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum


The captain, pilot, engineer and airplane reconnoi-ter Francisco Iglesias Brage, who in 1929 flew fromSevilla to Bahia (Brazil) in the airplane Jesús delGran Poder, gave a lecture at the Residencia inDecember 13, 1931, about his expedition project tothe Amazon, never accomplished, where he pretend-ed to study its nature, hydrography, topography,tropical illnesses, ethnography, anthropology, andeven the meteorology of the region. The lecturedescribed in detail the expedition plan to the Ama-zon River. The aim was to study the fauna and flora,and they were equipped with a boat, an airplane, aphotographic and a video camera. In response to theexpectation created by the project, a magazine enti-tled Crónica de la Expedición Iglesias al Amazonas(Chronicle of the Iglesias’ Expedition to the Amazon)was edited in 1932-35, and the Sociedad Española deAmigos del Arte organized an exhibition aboutethnography in the Amazon in 1935, therefore, thedocumentation of the project is extensive.

The Residencia de Estudiantes counts on the col-laboration of the Museo Nacional de Antropología inMadrid and the Archivo Histórico del Ejército delAire in Madrid to document this aerial expedition.

FRANCISCO IGLESIAS AND HIS SCIENTIFIC EXPEDITION PROJECT TO THE AMAZON


String, cane, wood and feather pendant withthe shape of a bird from the Tukano people,collected by Francisco Iglesias in Vaupés,Colombia, 1933-34. Museo Nacional deAntropología, Madrid

Gregorio Marañón, Francisco Iglesias Brageand Federico García Lorca at GregorioMarañón’s country house, Toledo, circa 1931.Photograph by Alfonso. Archivo General de laAdministración, Alcalá de Henares


The archaeologist of the British Museum T.A. Joycewas invited by the Residencia de Estudiantes to givethe lecture “Maya Art and Culture” on December 3and 6, 1927.

The English archaeologist tackled the differencesand similarities between the ancient Maya civilizationand other civilizations, described their hieroglyphicwritings, weapons, games and architecture (pyramids,walls, squares and palaces) and also listed the commonfeatures that distinguished them from other cultures(materials, building styles, etc.). The lecture includeda historical sketch of the Mayas from the Old to theNew Empire (geographical locations and ruins pre-served) as well as a summary of the Aztec civilization.

T.A. JOYCE AND THE MAYA CULTURE


Clay whistle with the shape of a Maya nobleman, Jaina style, Late Classic period,Mexico, circa 700-900. 12.2 cm (height). Museo de América, Madrid

Photograph of T.A. Joyce at the Residencia de Estudiantes from the autographalbum of Natalia Jiménez Cossío, 1927. Fundación Jiménez Cossío


The prehistorian Hugo Obermaier, from Germany,came to Spain in 1909 to study the Caves ofCantabria, with the support and financing of PrinceAlbert I of Monaco. His forced stay in Spain at theoutbreak of the First World War led him to deepenthe Quaternary Geology not only in the Bay of Bis-cay but also in Levante, Spain. In this research wemust highlight his monograph The Human Fossil,published in Spain in 1916 and reprinted in 1925, thefirst great synthesis of twentieth-century Hispanicand European prehistory.

In the Residencia de Estudiantes, from 1925 to 1930,a cycle of lectures by Hugo Obermaier was held to pres-ent the theories collected in his work, with special atten-tion to the research on analogies and dating of cavepaintings in the area of Cantabria and Levante. Thelectures he gave were: “The Human Fossil: His Printsand Sculptures” (November 18, 1925), “The PaintedCaves in the Area of France-Cantabria” (November20, 1925), “The Paintings in the Shelters of Levante,in Spain, and Northern Africa” (November 23, 1925),“The Bushmen in South Africa and their Cave Paint-ings” (January 24, 1929), “The Altamira Caves”(March 16, 1929), “Aurochsand Bison in Europe ThroughHistory” (November 24, 1930).

HUGO OBERMAIER AND THE CAVES IN ALTAMIRA

From left to right, Count of the Vega delSella, Henri Breuil, Count Begouen and HugoObermaier sieving sediments at theentrance of Altamira, circa 1924-25. HugoObermaier Archive, Institute of PrehistoricArchaeology, University of Erlangen


Shoulder blade decorated with animalfigures, Lower Magdalenian age, circa16500-14000 BC, found in the AltamiraCave, Santillana del Mar, duringObermaier’s 1924-25 campaign. 7.9 x 6.1 cm. Museo de Altamira


The German ethnologist and archaeologist Leo Frobe-nius was one of the first Europeans who admitted thehistoricity of the African cultures. He spent twenty-fiveyears studying it, ten of which he lived in Africa andcompiled important information about the life, habitsand culture of the African people. Leo Frobenius vol-unteered at the principal ethnographical museums ofthe moment such as Bremen, Basel and Leipzig. In 1932he was named honorary professor of the University ofFrankfurt, and in 1935 he was designated adjoin direc-tor at the Städtische Museum für Völkerkunde.

Frobenius gave three lectures on March 10, 12 and14, 1924, in which he described his research workand his travels to Africa, entitled “Le problème de lacivilisation” (The problem of civiliza-tion), where he summarizedhis experiences and, withthe help of maps made byhimself, he showed themorphology of the A-frican cultures, point-ed out the great routesof its expansions anddrew the lines of theplanet’s human history.

LEO FROBENIUS AND HIS TRAVELS TO AFRICA


Terracotta head of an Ife woman. Nigeria, 10th-12th century. 22 cm (height). Fundación Alberto Jiménez-Arellano Alonso (Universidad de Valladolid)

Leo Frobenius, in the foreground, with two companions taking a break during the excavations. ArchivoGeneral de la Administración, Alcalá de Henares


1C.G. BRUCE AND HIS ATTEMPTS TO CLIMB MOUNT EVEREST

2JOSEPH HACKIN AND HIS ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPEDITIONTO AFGHANISTAN

3PAUL PELLIOT AND BUDDHIST ART

4HOWARD CARTER AND HIS DISCOVERYOF THE TOMB OF TUTANKHAMON

5CHARLES LEONARD WOOLLEY AND THE CITY OF UR

6FRANCISCO IGLESIAS AND HIS SCIENTIFIC EXPEDITIONPROJECT TO THE AMAZON

7T.A. JOYCE AND THE MAYA CULTURE

8HUGO OBERMAIER AND THE CAVES IN ALTAMIRA

9LEO FROBENIUS AND HIS TRAVELS TO AFRICA

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RESIDENCIA DE ESTUDIANTESDECEMBER 10, 2010 – APRIL 24, 2011

Exhibition hours: Monday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.Sunday and holidays: from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

www.residencia.csic.esGuided tours for groups: 91 563 64 11


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