{"id":206527,"date":"2018-12-22T07:00:36","date_gmt":"2018-12-22T10:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/?p=206527"},"modified":"2019-06-30T16:32:29","modified_gmt":"2019-06-30T19:32:29","slug":"louvre-abu-dhabi-has-an-exhibition-about-animals-for-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/louvre-abu-dhabi-has-an-exhibition-about-animals-for-kids\/","title":{"rendered":"Louvre Abu Dhabi has an exhibition about animals for kids"},"content":{"rendered":"

Abu Dhabi \u2013 One line, then another, then another one, and an animal is being depicted in a projection on the wall. Before the figure is complete, you better guess which animal it is. Passing in front of another equipment, the visitor\u2019s shadow appears sketched out there but with a mane and a tail of a lion. Like that, combining art and interaction, the exhibition \u2018Animals, Between Real and Imaginary\u2019 is presented for kids by the Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum at United Arab Emirates in its children\u2019s museum until the end of June 2019.<\/p>\n

The exhibit space is not large but it combines playful and good art, colors without exaggeration, and fun without getting messy. The official message from Louvre Museum is that the expo shows how animals have been represented creatively throughout art history from all eras and regions. According to the museum\u2019s website, a variety of techniques were used by the artists to represent both real and imaginary animals.<\/p>\n

The central space of the expo is composed by parallels between current and historic, real and imaginary. Near an illuminated figure of a lion, for example, there is a plate painted by the artist William de Morgan, who lived until the beginning of the last century, representing a griffin, a half eagle and half lion animal. He was inspired by Oriental and Greek mythologies, and the griffin was a legendary figure in Egypt and Mesopotamia (current Iraq) circa 5,000 years ago. On the artfully crafted plate, two griffins face one another, huffing through their beaks.<\/p>\n

Besides a cat figure, there\u2019s a cat mummy (picture above)<\/em>. An explanatory plaque in Arabic, French and English tells that in Ancient Egypt cats were associated to the goddess Bastet, represented by them or by the lion. According to the note, cats were viewed as special animals and should be treated with reverence, raised near temples, and mummified and offered to Bastet after their deaths. Every piece including animal pictures together with some object or historic artwork has this explanation in multiple languages.<\/p>\n

In addition to the cat and the lion, other animal figures are also accompanied by an old artifact, symbolizing mostly what was imagined for them by that people, civilization or age. Prominent is a mask used in ceremonies by a people from Alaska in order to succeed on hunts. It features walrus tusks, fish eyes and nose, and some bird feathers.<\/p>\n