London's Victoria & Albert Museum
Anish Kapoor, Anselm Kiefer, Lewis Carroll and the Supremes at V&A
May 25, 2008
The Victoria & Albert Museum, one of London's largest exhibition centres, is hosting a number of exciting exhibitions during 2008/9.
Unseen Hands - 100 Years of Structural Engineering - until 7 September 2008
Through photographs, drawings, models, video and CAD imagery this exhibition examines some of the world's most iconic buildings including Switzerland's Salginatobel Bridge, designed by civil engineer Robert Maillart, Poland's People's Hall - one of the first constructions in the world to be made of reinforced concrete, and New York's Empire State Building. The show also explores modern projects including the Eden Project and the Millau Viaduct.
Seasons through the Looking Glass - until 29 March 2009
This underground garden must be one of the museum's most unusual exhibits, located as it is in the V&A's Tunnel Entrance. The sculpture, designed by C J Lim, and inspired by Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865), consists of twigs and trunks made from honeycombed paper panels and roses created from recycled fabric. The floral decorations will be changed throughout the life of the installation to reflect the changing seasons.
Blood on Paper: the Art of the Book - until 29 June 2008
This exhibition features 60 works by 38 artists and explores how books have been treated by such notable names as Pablo Picasso, Damien Hirst, Francis Bacon, Louise Bourgeois, Alberto Giacometti and Roy Lichenstein. The display features sculptures, manuscripts and books including Anish Kapoor's Wound, a book sculpture in four parts. The photo shows the third book in the series with a 'wound' laser-cut through hundreds of sheets of paper. Anselm Kiefer's 2-metre tall book sculpture, in lead and cardboard, stands at the entrance to the exhibition.
The Story of The Supremes from the Mary Wilson Collection - until 19 October 2008
The Supremes became one of the most successful all-girl groups of the 20th century. This show exlores their rise to fame against the background of the American civil rights movement. It looks at how their image was moulded by Berry Gordy and his Motown associates and features more that 50 outfits worn by the original Supremes, Florence Ballard, Diana Ross and Mary Wilson, as well as the 1970s Supremes. Photographs, magazine spreads and footage of television appearances look at The Supremes as black role models in the 1960s. The exhibition also examines the group's continuing influence on the 21st-century music scene.
The William and Judith Bollinger Jewellery Gallery - 24 May 2008 - open indefinitely
This dazzling exhibition features more than 3,000 stunning items from the V&A's comprehensive jewellery collection. Although the display focuses mainly on European jewellery from the last 800 years it also includes items created by modern jewellers. Many historic articles are on show including diamonds worn by Catherine the Great of Russia and jewels once owned by Queen Elizabeth I. The Beauharnais Emeralds, a gift from Napoleon to his adopted daughter, gleam in the subdued light alongside ornaments and tiaras worn by the Empress Josephine.
The V&A has many other galleries exploring everything from architecture to medieval history and from ceramics to childhood. Information about all of the exhibitions at the Victoria & Albert Museum can be found on their website.
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