Fancy Some Fashionable Fish and Chips?

I have neglected reporting about exhibitions focusing on contemporary fashion for a while in this blog, so let's start catching up a bit about what’s going on in different galleries and museums in terms of fashion and design.

For today let's focus on an event that you may want to add on your summer holiday agenda if you’re heading to Vienna. Here at Quartier21 you will find the "Fish and Chips, Twice Please?!" exhibition.

Curated by fashion designer Emma Bell and Slovenian artist Polona Dolzan, this exhibition celebrates the talent and creativity of contemporary designers working in Great Britain.

The event will feature also designs by Charlie Le Mindu, Craig Lawrence, Dashing Tweeds, Louise Gray, Piers Atkinson and Scott Ramsay Kyle.  

You can read further about it in a longer interview I did on Dazed Digital. The interview that follows includes some extra questions to Emma and Polona about the event.

Can you tell me more about the designs featured in the exhibition poster?
Emma Bell: The idea was to create a strong piece that represents the concept and strengthens the ‘Fish and Chips, Twice Please?!’ identity. The brief to create this piece of photography was given to our contributors so that they could work together and collectively collaborate to form a culmination of their talents and to make a statement of their perspective of the exhibit concept. We used three of the most colourful pieces that will feature in the static showcase which included a garment from Louise Gray, a piece from Scott Ramsay Kyle, my knitted food dress and footwear from Nicholas Kirkwood. Each piece is very different in terms of the craftsmanship, fabric combinations and colour spectrums, so it was great to be able to create an overall image that captures the essence of the exhibition.
Polona Dolzan: We wanted to really go for it in the official press image, to represent the exuberance of styles that will be featured in the show. The image also is well complemented by the illustrations by Laura Bell, who managed to capture the playfulness and dialogue of the garments by Louise, Emma and Scott. The photographers and stylist Alexis Knox let the outfits speak, or scream if you like, for themselves.

How will the gallery space be transformed?
Emma Bell: We decided to transform the gallery space into one big, extravaganza by creating a selection of different segments, which will house the items and features of the exhibition. For example, we will be building a tea party set up and a fake beach in which we can present garments in more unusual ways and create a more aesthetically enticing and exciting atmosphere. The visual appeal is a very important factor for us, so the overall design has to do our concept ethos justice. With a vision so bold, a standard dummy or two just wouldn’t cut the mustard, so prepare for exciting props and innovative methods of presentation!

In which ways will the "Fish and Chips, Twice Please?!" Facebook and Twitter pages be used?
Emma Bell: I have always found social networking - including pages such as Twitter, Facebook, Blogger and MySpace (back in the day!) - to be a very effective method of keeping people up to date and raising awareness and it also adds an additional dimension in terms of exposure to existing media coverage. We decided to utilise these networking platforms to make the project more accessible and to avoid limitations on who can visit the exhibition, get information and just general knowledge on the concept and its progress. It’s great to have extra outlets in terms of keeping our audience involved and of course being able to promote the concept and all of our amazing designers, contributors and supporters.
Polona Dolzan: Hopefully, these pages will provide platforms for an exchange and collaboration and get people involved.

What do you think visitors who will see this exhibition will bring back home?
Emma Bell: I hope that a visit to the exhibition will leave a memorable imprint on each and every visitor. Our aim is to present the UK as a hub for international talent in all its elements so I hope that our mission to showcase the designers and items helps shape people’s understanding of the British fashion scene.
Polona Dolzan: Hopefully they’ll appreciate the craft, the ideas and stories behind the garments and objects. I hope they’ll enjoy and have fun with it, and not be bogged down with the theory of it all, just admire the talents involved. f course contextual references are important, but the audience we’ll get at the Museum Quartier is so varied and also the programme we composed is all inclusive, I would just be happy if it opens up a discussion.

Will the event also include tributes to the late Alexander McQueen, one of the most innovative designers to come out of Britain?
Polona Dolzan: I think showcasing this talent is a tribute in itself. These designers are all following in his footsteps, they are all innovative in either their approach, skill set and execution of their designs. What better homage then to show appreciation for their work?

“Fish and Chips, Twice Please?!” is at Vienna’s freiraum quartier21 INTERNATIONAL from 10th June until 12th September 2010.

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Comments

[Fancy Dress Costumes]

nice blogging.so keep post some new topics......