Peru
a journey in time
Past exhibition
11 November 2021 – 20 February 2022
Room 35
The Joseph Hotung Great Court Gallery
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This exhibition invited visitors to step into the vibrant world of Peru and discover how people have thrived for millennia in one of the most complex and challenging environments on the planet.
Marking Peru's bicentennial year of independence, this exhibition highlighted the history, beliefs and cultural achievements of the different peoples who lived here from around 2500 BC to the arrival of Europeans in the 1500s, and their legacy in the centuries that followed.
From Peru's early indigenous peoples to the ill-fated Inca, this exhibition explored how past cultures were shaped by the diverse landscapes of the central Andes, flourishing at some of the highest altitudes and in some of the driest deserts on earth. Visitors discovered how they developed unique approaches to time, agriculture, economy and power, some of which endure today.
The exhibition featured objects from the British Museum's collection, including pottery, precious metals, textiles and ritual paraphernalia, as well as extraordinary pieces borrowed from Peru itself. Striking, large-scale photography and videos of iconic sites, including the Nasca geoglyphs and Machu Picchu, also gave visitors a vivid sense of place and an appreciation of the artistic and architectural prowess of ancient Andean cultures.
Highlights
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![A miniature gold llama figurine.]()
Miniature gold figure of a llama
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![A brown painted tunic lying spread flat. On one half there are circles drawn, the other rectangles.]()
Chancay-Inca painted tunic
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![Two gold ear plates decorated with embossed motifs of human faces, feline fangs and snakes..]()
Museo Kuntur Wasi. Gold earrings depicting feline features
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![A black vessel in the shape of a transformed human body, head at the bottom legs vent over the head.]()
Museo de Arte de Lima. Donated by Petrus and Verónica Fernandini. Photo by Daniel Giannoni. Vessel in the form of a contortionist
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![A rectangle shaped black textile decorated with yellow and red hummingbirds in flight.]()
Textile fragment with embroidered hummingbirds
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![A brown drum with illustrations depicting human figures.]()
Private collection on loan to the Museo de Arte de Lima. Photo by Daniel Giannoni. Ceremonial drum depicting a mythical scene
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![An armoured soldier on one knee holding a shield.]()
Vessel in the shape of a kneeling Moche warrior holding a club and a shield
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![A gold decorated long cape with a feline head staring out.]()
Museo 'Santiago Uceda Castillo' — Proyecto Arqueológico Huacas de Moche, Perú. Ritual cape in the form of a feline
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![A wooden sculpture depicting a human figure with a headdress and rope around his neck.]()
Figure depicting a bound prisoner
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![A brown vessel with a human figure around the handle who is holding an oar.]()
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Ethnologisches Museum. Vessel depicting a human figure in a reed boat
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![A square shaped red and white striped textile, slightly damaged at the top. The white areas have illustrations on them.]()
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Ethnologisches Museum. Photo by Claudia Obrocki. Ceremonial Wari shirt
Reviews
Access
View the large print guide, which is designed for visually impaired visitors and provides all the exhibition text in large print.
Exhibition supporter
As an independent division of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism, PROMPERÚ is a government promotion agency, connecting both public and private initiatives, whose mission is to promote a competitive and diversified offer of products and services with the highest quality standards suitable for the international markets. PROMPERÚ carries out a wide range of activities related to trade, investment, and tourism promotion, focused on those linked with the expansion of businesses in foreign markets, the generation of job opportunities and spreading the image of Peru as an exporting country and an attractive investment and tourist destination.
