Coronavirus restrictions kept representatives from the Victoria & Albert Museum from assisting with the curation of the Bendigo Art Gallery's Mary Quant exhibition. V&A textiles and fashion curator Stephanie Wood said museum and gallery staff not being able to changed the way they work. "It presented additional challenges overseeing and installing the exhibition virtually and remotely, and I certainly never thought I would be recording opening speeches in my living room in London," she said. Related news "But it will take more than a pandemic to stop Mary Quant on her worldwide tour, and I am so pleased that, despite the obstacles, we have been able to bring this exciting exhibition to Australia." The V&A have worked with Bendigo Art Gallery for a decade, making the challenge of presenting an exhibition remotely much easier. "Jessica and the team are incredible, we speak every day and have complete trust that our collections are in safe hands," Ms Wood said. "With Mary Quant, its popularity comes from its mass appeal to a generation of women who wanted to be like and dress like Mary so it taps into self-expression and social history. "We welcomed over 400,000 visitors making it the most successful exhibition ever staged in the V&A fashion gallery, and the third most successful fashion exhibition in the museum's history. "I'm so looking forward to seeing how the exhibition is received by the fashion forward Australian crowds." Bendigo Art Gallery curator Emma Busowski Cox said it had been a busy final week before launching the exhibition. "It's been flat chat every day, achieving another section and closing that case to move on to the next," she said. "It must be close to 300 items including cosmetics and 110 garments. More news "This is an exciting opportunity for Bendigo. It's the Mary Quant exhibition ever presented in Australia and I think going to be incredibly popular. "Unlike other fashion exhibitions we have done with high-end couture and fantasy, this is about a social movement of women through the 1960s. "One of the great things about this exhibition is you can see these are clothes that have been worn and loved. You can read the stories of the women who wore them. They hold great memories." Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
