It didn’t strike me as obvious until our visit to the British Museum in London a few weeks ago: if you want something supernatural to protect you from demons, you’d better get something pretty scary to take on the job. Like, um, even scarier demons. This perhaps explains why our heroes and saviours so easily become a liability.
Below are household demons, from Polynesia, I think. They were part of an exhibit on “Living and Dying”, which is described as intended to showcase “different approaches to averting illness, danger and trouble”, and to “investigate people’s reliance on relationships – with each other, the animal kingdom, spiritual powers, spirits and the world around us.”
When I saw this next little fiend, I immediately thought that it was wearing a jetpack, scifi fashion. Flash Gordon eat your heart out!
Atomic Apocalypse
This Mexican satirical construct was also on show: an elaborate papier mâché display called The Atomic Apocalypse. Composed of 132 pieces, it depicts the coming of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse and includes “specific references to actual events and areas of ongoing political conflict, such as the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, the Biafran War (1966-70) and the regime of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (1901-89) in Iran.” It was created in Mexico City in 1983 by the Linares family and draws on the calavera imagery of the Day of the Dead celebrations.
This is War.
This is Famine.
And below is the whole work:
