Moche Art from Ancient Peru. Gold, Myths and Rituals. CaixaForum Barcelona

Between the years 200 and 850 AD, a series of chiefdoms and kingdoms of great cultural complexity emerged in the valleys and deserts of what is now the northern coastline of Peru.

Moche societies represent a truly singular example of cultural, economic and political development centuries before Inca expansion began. The first state societies in the southern hemisphere, they invented some of the most advanced metalwork and pottery-making processes in the world, as well as building veritable adobe mountains for their religious practices. And with all this, their population and production capacity increased enormously.

Now ”la Caixa” Foundation presents Moche Art from Ancient Peru. Gold, Myths and Rituals, an exhibition seen for the first time, at CaixaForum Barcelona. Through 200 Moche artworks from the Larco Museum in Lima (Peru), the exhibition explores how the cultures that emerged in what is now Peru before Inca domination understood the world and organised their societies. The works featured include ceramics, jewellery and ceremonial objects made in precious metals, textiles, and ritual objects made from wood, stone, shell and bone.

Moche Art from Ancient Peru. Gold, Myths and Rituals. Place: CaixaForum Barcelona (Av. de Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia, 6-8). Dates: from 5 March to 7 June 2015.     More information in the PDF press release