EXHIBITIONS
AND GALLERY OPENINGS 2004
MAJOR
SPRING AND AUTUMN EXHIBITIONS 2004
BILL
BRANDT: A CENTENARY RETROSPECTIVE
24 March * 25 July 2004
The V&A will celebrate the centenary of the birth of Bill Brandt (1904-83),
one of the most important photographers of modern times, with a major
exhibition and an international conference. The exhibition presents 155
vintage gelatin-silver prints from the Bill Brandt Archive and is the
most important Brandt exhibition for over 30 years. Brandt's best-known
work documents the vivid social contrasts in Britain during the World
Wars. He also photographed the landscapes of 'Literary Britain' and a
pantheon of great artists and writers, as well as creating his outstanding
series 'Perspective of Nudes'. Bill Brandt: A Centenary Retrospective
is curated by John-Paul Kernot and organised by The Bill Brandt Archive.
VIVIENNE
WESTWOOD
1 April * 11 July 2004
Next spring, the V&A will open the first retrospective of Vivienne
Westwood, one of the most influential designers of the last 30 years.
The exhibition will feature more than 150 ensembles mainly selected from
the V&A's collection and Vivienne Westwood's personal archive. It
will examine Westwood's extraordinary career from the 1970s to the present
day. The exhibition will show how Westwood has been inspired by the V&A's
historical collections.
Items on show will include:
· early examples of her work including provocative punk clothing
worn by members of the Sex Pistols.
· pieces that show how Westwood has been influenced by historical
fashion and culture. They include her interpretations of the corset, crinoline
and bustle.
· outfits that have been inspired by the idea of 'Britishness'
* for example, using tartan and Harris Tweed.
EXOTIC ENCOUNTERS: THE MEETING OF ASIA AND EUROPE 1500-1800
23 September * 5 December 2004
Exotic Encounters will explore three hundred years of artistic, cultural
and technological interaction and exchange between Asia and Europe. The
exhibition will show how East and West have always been fascinated with
each other, and that the desire for and appeal of the exotic has shaped
the material culture of both. Exotic Encounters will bring together a
diverse and spectacular range of objects from Europe, India, China and
Japan. The exhibition will draw on the collections of the V&A and
those of major institutions and private collections in Europe, America
and Asia to create a beautiful and stimulating exhibition.
CHRISTOPHER
DRESSER
16 September - 5 December 2004
Christopher Dresser (1834*1904) was a pioneering designer who helped shape
British design over the last century. He is considered the first independent
industrial designer, running a studio supplying designs to manufacturers
including Wedgwood, Minton and Coalbrookdale. The exhibition will examine
Dresser's career with displays of silver, metalwork, furniture, ceramics,
textiles, wallpaper and watercolours. Dresser's influences included Japanese,
Egyptian and Asian art and design as well as abstract pattern based on
the scientific study of botany.
Dresser visited Japan
in 1876 as the official representative of the V&A and the British
Government, exchanging the best examples of European design for their
Japanese equivalents. This trip was to transform his designs and he began
to reject ornament in favour of form and the qualities of materials. It
is this dramatic shift and Dresser's approach towards manufacture that
has led him to be considered a pioneer of the aesthetic ideas which have
dominated design over the last 100 years.
This exhibition has
been organised by the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian
Institution in New York and will be on display in Spring 2004 before coming
to the V&A.
CONTEMPORARY
EXHIBITIONS
BRILLIANT
12 February - 25 April 2004
Contemporary Space
Brilliant is the first UK exhibition of the best of contemporary lighting.
It will focus on creative and innovative uses of light with a display
of domestic lighting and new 'experiments' in light in the form of installations.
There will also be previously unseen prototypes by leading designers such
as Tord Boontje, Sharon Marston and Catellani & Smith.
SHHH*
20 May * 1 August 2004
Contemporary Space
Shhh* is a journey through the V&A, featuring new music by an eclectic
mix of leading musicians and artists who have created work inspired by
the objects and spaces in the museum. The exhibition will feature work
by Cornelius, David Byrne, Elisabeth Fraser, Faultline, Jane and Louise
Wilson, Jeremy Deller, Leila Arab, Roots Manuva and Simon Fisher Turner.
Visitors will be invited to pick up a set of headphones and follow a trail
of sounds through the galleries of the V&A
BLACK
BRITISH STYLE
26 August * 28 November 2004
Contemporary Space
This exhibition will explore the dress, style and fashion of black people
in Britain, looking at how they have contributed to British culture. The
exhibition will focus on the contemporary but also look at recent history.
Since the migration of black people from the Caribbean and Africa from
the late 1940s onwards, their presence has helped to change the visual
landscape of Britain. The style of black people in Britain has had a profound
affect on British culture. In turn the black population has drawn upon
other areas of the African diaspora to express their own cultural identity.
The
exhibition will be based around themes such as leisure and work clothing,
dressing for church, and the importance and meaning of black pride. It
will l explore the subject through clothing and textiles, accessories,
styling methods and practices, production of garments and specially commissioned
photography and film.
NEW GALLERY
V&A/RIBA
ARCHITECTURE PARTNERSHIP: NEW GALLERY & STUDY CENTRE Opening autumn
2004
The V&A and RIBA are opening a new architecture gallery at the V&A
to display their world-class collections of architectural drawings, models
and objects which have now been brought together at the V&A. The displays
will draw on works by the great architects of past centuries and of today
from Palladio, Inigo Jones and Christopher Wren to Robert Adam, Le Corbusier
and contemporary architects such as Norman Foster. The Architecture Gallery
will feature a general introduction to architecture, thematic displays,
educational interactive areas and three small temporary exhibitions each
year. The gallery will be situated to the right of the main entrance to
the V&A on Cromwell Road and has been designed by Gareth Hoskins Architects.
>From autumn 2004, there will also be a new set of study rooms and
new
>stores in the Henry Cole wing of the V&A to rehouse the RIBA's
>Drawings, Manuscripts and Archives Collections alongside the V&A's
>Prints, Drawings and Paintings collections. The study rooms will allow
>the public to view the entire archives in an easily accessible way.
The
>study rooms have been designed by architects Wright & Wright.
EXHIBITIONS FROM 2005
International
Arts and Crafts
Spring/Summer 2005
Diane Arbus
Autumn/Winter 2005/6
Modernism
Spring/Summer 2006
Leonardo
Autumn/Winter 2006/7
Renaissance
Interiors
Autumn/Winter 2006/7
V&A
opening hours
10.00 - 17.45 daily (closed 24,25,26 December)
10.00 * 22.00 Wednesdays and the last Friday of the month (except December)
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