The Warburg Institute's exhibition, Tarot - Origins & Afterlives, explores tarot’s extraordinary journey, from a courtly card game of Renaissance Italy to a powerful tool for divination, self-reflection and artistic expression.
As the exhibition enters its final weeks, we sat down with Professor Bill Sherman, Director of the Warburg Institute and one of the exhibition’s curators, to discuss how the idea for Tarot - Origins & Afterlives first emerged, what it took to bring the project to life, and what he hopes visitors will take away from this thoughtful and richly layered show. From surprising discoveries in Aby Warburg’s own research, to a rarely seen treasure borrowed from the Wellcome Collection, Bill shares insights into the enduring appeal of tarot and the Warburg’s unique approach to scholarship, symbolism, and storytelling.
How did the idea for Tarot - Origins & Afterlives come about, and what was the process of bringing it to life?
Having created a brand new gallery as part of the Warburg Renaissance project, we wanted our first proper exhibition to meet two very different (and perhaps even incompatible) goals. We wanted the show to appeal to the general public, and we wanted it to be true to the scholarly work that is at the heart of the Warburg’s collections and programmes. Jonathan Allen (a long-time user of the Warburg and one of our current Associate Fellows) strongly encouraged me to consider doing a show on tarot, and it struck me as the perfect topic—it is extremely popular but we had the holdings and expertise needed to show (for the first time in a UK institution) its entire history from the 15th century to the present. By combining loans from other institutions with our own extensive holdings, we were able to present a series of critical moments in tarot’s long history from courtly card game to instrument for divination to vehicle for art and activism. We had to figure out how to make the most of our limited space, and also how to put in place everything from a ticketing system and team of gallery assistants to loan agreements and environmental controls. It required a huge amount of hard work from our guest curators (Jonathan Allen and Martina Mazzotta) and our in-house curatorial staff (Matt Harle, Phoebe Cripps and Naomi Pearce) and also staff from across the institution (including conservation, communications and commerce). We have been thrilled by the number of visitors (on track for 20,000 during the 3 months of the show) but also the amount of media coverage (85 pieces of press and counting).
Did you uncover any surprising or exciting discoveries while researching for the exhibition?
We were surprised to find how much research Aby Warburg himself did on the history of tarot, making a major investment in both cards and books around 1909.
Do you have a personal favourite piece or section of the exhibition, and why?
I am so pleased that we have been able to borrow from the Wellcome Collection a unique piece displaying the tarot deck of Jean-Baptiste Alliette (better known as Etteilla, his surname in reverse). Not only had it never been shown before but it plays a crucial role in the story of how tarot became associated with the occult: some three hundred years after the invention of tarot, this is the first deck used for divination and the first one associated with the wisdom traditions of ancient Egypt. As an object it is powerful and puzzling in equal measure.
What do you hope visitors will take away from the exhibition?
I think most visitors assume that tarot has always been associated with fortune telling and magic, and will no doubt be surprised to learn that this has only been true for less than half of its long history.
What do you think the exhibition reveals about the enduring appeal of tarot?
Tarot cards are one of the most striking examples of a symbol system (a structured set of archetypal concepts or images) that can remain constant, meaningful and even magical for centuries. They are the perfect example of what Warburg liked to call Bilderfahrzeuge—that is, vehicles that carry images, set them in motion and help culture to migrate across time and space.
