Fashion has always taken inspiration from the past decades. In designers hands the visual content of the past has been modified to fit in the present moment. And our attention is drawn to these beautiful dresses, accessories and other object presented in the catwalks, stores and magazines. However, underlying dialogues between past and present often remains to whispering.
Design museum Copenhagen wants to draw more attention to similarities between the past and present with the exhibition Rokoko-Mania. The past is presented via selected items,
dresses, textiles, mirrors and furniture of 18th-century from the museum’s
collection, companion with works of four contemporary artists; British-Nigerian
artist Yinka Shonibare and Danish fashion designers Nikoline Liv Andersen, Anne Damgaard and Laura Baruël. Their artworks, dresses and clothing sculptures work
as bridge between now and then. Interesting
themes among other are consumerism and colonialism.
The exhibition also manages to draw attention
to other interesting relationship – relationship between art and fashion. Fashion
itself, moves in borderline of clothing and art. Some designers works seen
in catwalk can considered more like a wearable art than clothing. Yet, the attention of audience is different
depending on the context where dresses and other wearable art pieces are
presented. When art pieces are presented
in the museum side by side historical items, the dialogue between past and
present is louder and easier to follow.
Yinka Shonibare’s 18th-century
costumes with African prints mirror the 18th-century colonialism and
power structures in contemporary global world. The connection to this present
moment is strong and extremely contemporary; the one of the summer 2012 trend
is African inspired motifs, prints and fabrics. The one of the most noticed
collection with African textiles was Marni’s summer 2012 collection for Hennes
and Mauritz.
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| Yinka Shonibare - photo:eija |
Melankolyst.
Anne Damgaard’s dresses draws attention to rococo costumes’ details like fans
and corsets.
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| Anne Damgaard - photo:eija |
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| Anne Damgaard - photo:eija |
LAURA BARUËL
Mountain
Scape. Laura Baruël’s costume sculptures,
made of paper and silk, replicate rococo costume’s silhouette. The group of
white flowing sculptures echoes the lightness of the Rococo era.
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| Laura Baruël - photo:eija |
The Dance of the Deaf and Dumb Eye. Nikoline
Liv Andersen’s costume sculptures are humanistic and serious at the same time. In
her work rococo wigs turn to three Japanese monkeys. The three wise monkeys embody
the saying “see on evil, hear no evil and speak no evil”. By shutting their
eyes, ears and mouth, they prevent themselves to acknowledge to problematic
situations and questions around. In Andersen’s work, the monkey wigs
symbolize the blindness of today’s consumers. For fashion cycle – the ever
changing cycle of different styles and trends presented each season - to
reaches the ongoing fast speed, fashion is connected to consumerism. However,
in which costs do we keep fashion cycle alive and ongoing?
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| Nikoline Liv Andersen - photo:eija |
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| Nikoline Liv Andersen - photo:eija |
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| Nikoline Liv Andersen - photo:eija |
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| Nikoline Liv Andersen - photo:eija |
All photos: eija