Cabinet Da-End X

“The Tetraktys in whom is the source and the root of eternal nature. Everything derives from the Decade and everything goes back to it. The 10 is the image of the whole in motion. “Thus the Pythagoreans took their oath by affirming that” everything is number “. Formulated by the sum of the first four numbers such as 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 = 10, the Tetraktys of Pythagoras (6th century BC) is built on four levels and ten points, giving the sacred ten the shape of a triangle equilateral. Depending on the interpretation, at the top is the One, the Divine or the harmonious unity. The two dots below denote duality or dualism. Then come the three points which correspond to the three levels of the world (infernal, terrestrial and celestial). The four points forming the base of the triangle suggest the four elements, the four seasons and more broadly they symbolize the creation or the multiplicity of the material world. For its initiates, the Tétraktys summarizes in this way “a figurative image of the structure of the world.”

It is on this theme of the number ten and the symbolic possibilities offered by Tétraktys, that Cabinet Da-End invites – on the occasion of its tenth edition and the ten years of the gallery – contemporary artists, colleagues and collectors of African, Oceanian or Asian art, to challenge the shifting borders of the Art world. It is up to everyone to interpret freely.

“The Tetraktys in which is found the source and root of eternal nature. Everything derives from the Decade and everything goes back to it. The Tenth is the image of the totality in movement.” This is how the Pythagoreans pronounced their oath, claiming that ‘all is number’. Formulated by the sum of the first four numbers such as 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 = 10, the Tetraktys of Pythagoras (6th century BCE) is built on four levels and ten points, giving the sacred ten the shape of an equilateral triangle. According to the interpretations, at the vertex appears the One, the Divine or the harmonious unit. The two points underneath indicate duality or dualism. Then come the three points corresponding to the three levels of the world (infernal, earthly and celestial). The four points forming the base of the triangle suggest the four elements, the four seasons and more broadly they symbolize the creation or multiplicity of the material world. It is in this way that the Tetraktys sums up, for its initiates, “a figurative image of the structure of the world”. 

And it is on this theme of the number ten and the symbolic possibilities offered by the Tétraktys – on the occasion of its tenth edition and the tenth anniversary of the gallery – that Cabinet Da-End invites contemporary artists, colleagues and collectors of African, Oceanian or Asian Art, to challenge the moving frontiers of the art world. It is up to everyone to interpret freely.