Masters of Chaos: Artists and Shamans. CaixaForum Madrid

What is chaos? Why does it occupy such an important place in the history of humanity? Masters of Chaos: Artists and Shamans seeks to provide an answer to both of these questions by exploring how the struggle between order and chaos has become an essential reference point in many cultures. The show is conceived as a journey of discovery that leads us from the sacred to the profane.

Revolving around three main themes - chaos in the world, mastering chaos, and catharsis - the exhibition presents myths that illustrate the tension between order and disorder, and the rituals practised to keep chaos in check. It also focuses on the intercessors who protect people from the misfortunes and misery caused by the world’s imperfection. They are the “masters of chaos”.

CaixaForum Madrid is the only centre in Spain that will host this travelling show, conceived and produced by the Musée du quai Branly, Paris, and organised by ”la Caixa” Foundation in cooperation with the Kunst-und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Bonn, Germany). Masters of Chaos features more than 220 pieces, including objects, costumes and representations from major anthropological and ethnographic collections, as well as works by contemporary artists such as Annette Messager, Thomas Hirschhorn and Jean-Michel Basquiat which show that ancestral chaos, a reflection of the human unconscious, remains with us even today.     More information in the PDF press release