Day 58 – Last full day in Paris

I spent some time at the  musée du quai Branly-Jacques Chirac  today.  This museums regular collections include indigenous art and culture from Asia, Africa, Oceana, and the Americas. 

One of their informative placards was the following:

“…’ovoo’, where travelers pause to leave offerings of various kinds…”

I have come across several latter day ovoos on the Camino including stones left at the base of the iron cross, makeshift crosses weaved into a chain link fence, even abandoned boots left on top of milestone markers.  

Here in Paris there is a chain link fence densely packed with padlocks, symbols of one persons devotion to another.
  

My first impression was one of just senseless litter in most cases.  While this may still be the case it has an ancient historical precedent behind it.

The featured exhibit explored the impact that Pablo Picasso’s interest in African and Oceanic art had on his own work and the cubism movement in general.

Picasso wearing an African mask

There were several comparisons between specific carvings in Pablo’s personal collection and his own art works.  

 
The documentation pointed out that most aboriginal artwork is symbolic not representational.  It included “zoomophological” depictions where human and animal forms were intermixed to communicate certain traits.  This idea of releasing the human form to free form exploration may have influenced Picasso. 

Conclusion 

As the title suggests, this is the last day of my two month trip to walk the Camino de Santiago and explore parts of Spain and France.

Tomorrow being a long travel day I will probably not be posting any new content.  Going forward, as my life becomes much more routine, I will likely return to my irregular posting schedule.  

I have greatly enjoyed curating these daily entries and appreciate the comments I’ve received in various forms.  

Thank You for following along.

   
Buen Camino,

– jgp