The Art of Caribbean Exchange, in Gold, Stone or Hardwood

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Jason Fargo

Gold figure pendant made by the Tairona people in north Colombia, 10th-16th century. The Metropolitan Museum of Art

If you want to make sense of the Caribbean, you had better prepare for some island-hopping: This is a place where not just people but ideas and images are constantly on the move. That’s the premise and the appeal of “Arte del Mar: Art of the Caribbean,” a concentrated showcase at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that plunges visitors into a sea of archipelagic thinking. It is the Met’s first show to reckon with the Caribbean as its own zone of contact, and includes not only art from the West Indies — specifically on the island of Hispaniola — but also from the Caribbean-facing coasts of mainland Costa Rica, Panama and Colombia. [More]

Metropolitan Museum of Art: "Arte Del Mar: Art of the Caribbean" (Through Jan. 10, 2021); 1000 Fifth Avenue, New York; 212-535-7710; metmuseum.org