France vs. Romania in an open exhibition

Marianne – The Muse of the Creators is the last exhibition I went to see yesterday morning. Everything started as a beautiful Saturday morning should start: coffee and a chocolate gauffre with the girls and a nice walk over to the museum.

The entrance was very imposing – there was a long blue silk carpet going from the door all the way to the other side of the room. In the middle there was  a sculpture of Marianne’s head and a book entitled : "Femei care stau in fata barbatilor" a historic novel by Ovidiu Buta (Women that stand up in front of the men)

The Idea and history behind this event:

Who is Marianne? ... and why does she need an exhibition just for her ?

I will try to translate the little introduction that was posted on the wall for visitors to actually understand the whole concept of Marianne.

In the year 1792 Marianne remains the symbolic figure of the French Republic and of the French patrimony. She inspired and continues to inspire a lot of creators from the world of theatre, opera, cinematography and fashion.

The twenty six sketches in gouache which were designed by Choubrac and Minon at the beginning of the 90’s are illustrating Marianne as a subversive, conservatory but always elegant figure.

The dresses of the six creators : Lefranc Ferrant, Maragareth&moi, Stephanie Renoma, Katherine Pradeau , Edward Achour, Repetto – are contemporary reinterpretations of Marianne’s image in accordance with  fashion in our time.

Now that you know a little bit more about the whole Marianne concept let me tell you that I was very impressed by the Romanian designers which also tried to assembly an outfit for this exhibition letting themselves be inspired by the idea of the French, elegant, romantic but strong woman that Marianne is a symbol of.

On the first floor of the exhibition you can find the Romanian creations of designer’s such as Adelina Ivan, Iris Serban, Florin Dobre, Wilhellmina Artz, Kristina Dragomir , George Neagu, Claudia Castrase. Christian Samfira and Lena Criveanu . 

Let me tell you once again my favourite creation was the one of Iris Serban, which although was the only one that didn’t use the traditional three colours of the French flag in her design, managed to create a dress that best suited the idea of Marianne. Her dress was a very powerful statement – it embodies the romantic woman, passionate but also the strong, revolutionary, warrior woman.  The passion of the red material bursting out of the dress on the left side like rose petals in contrast with the metallic accessories (at the waist line and right shoulder) brought me to the think that the actual dress was composed of these two sides of the French symbol. The right side is the warrior within the woman, the left side (side of the heart) is the loving, caring woman.

Soon to come – all the pictures