The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, world’s
largest museum of decorative arts and design, has announced that its Autumn exhibition
for 2015 will be Shoes: Pleasure and Pain. The exhibition will run from 13 June
2015 until 31 January 2016, and will explore the extremes of footwear from
around the globe, its cultural significance and transformative capacity.
Exhibition curator Helen Persson was inspired
by the beauty of the Indian shoes and the stories behind them. “It all started
on a lovely day in Spring 2010, when I came across all these drawers in one of
the V&A stores – full of lovely Indian shoes. The shoes were weird and
wonderful, and to me unfamiliar.” She says “There were curly toes, long
toes, shoes made out of rich and colourful materials, embroidery
with iridescent green beetle wings, silk, spangles and lots and
lots of gold. It was like opening a treasure chest.”
The exhibition will present around 250 pairs
of shoes ranging from a sandal decorated in pure gold leaf originating from
ancient Egypt to the most detailed designs by contemporary makers and will discuss
how shoes are powerful indicators of gender, status, identity, taste and sexual
preference. Shoes donated by many famous wearer and collectors will be displayed
alongside a dazzling range of historic shoes, many of which will be displayed for
the very first time.
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| Indian wedding shoe, 1800s |
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| Chopines, about 1600 |
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| Egyptian sandal, 30 BCE - 300 CE |
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| Italian chopines, 1600 |
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| Evening sling-backs, silk satin, gold braid, sequins, paste jewels, Roger Vivier for Christian Dior, 1952-54 |
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| Red satin slippers, satin and leather embroidered with metal thread and spangles, India, 1800s |
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| Roger Vivier for Christian Dior, 1958-60 |
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| Invisible Naked Version by Andreia Chaves, 2011 |
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| Marbled and gilded leather mens shoes, 1925 |
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| Sophia Webster, 2013 |
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| Caroline Groves Parakeet shoes, 2014 |
(Image Credit:Victoria and Albert Museum)
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