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5/4/2006

Modernism

Victoria & Albert Museum, London

This major exhibition at the V&A is the first to explore Modernism in the designed world from a truly international perspective and in terms of all the arts.

At the beginning of the twenty-first century our relationship to Modernism is complex. The built environment that we live in today was largely shaped by Modernism. The buildings we inhabit, the chairs we sit on, the graphic design that surrounds us have all been created by the aesthetics and the ideology of Modernist design. We live in an era that still identifies itself in terms of Modernism, as post-Modernist or even post-post-Modernist.

Modernism was not conceived as a style but a loose collection of ideas. It was a term which covered a range of movements and styles that largely rejected history and applied ornament, and which embraced abstraction. Born of great cosmopolitan centres, it flourished in Germany and Holland, as well as in Moscow, Paris, Prague and New York. Modernists had a utopian desire to create a better world. They believed in technology as the key means to achieve social improvement and in the machine as a symbol of that aspiration. All of these principles were frequently combined with social and political beliefs (largely left-leaning) which held that design and art could, and should, transform society.

Modernism: Designing A New World is the first exhibition to explore the concept of Modernism in depth, rather than restricting itself, as previous exhibitions have, to particular geographical centres or to individual decades. Many forms of art and design are represented in the show. But as befits a period when the debates surrounding how people should live took centre stage, the exhibition focuses on architecture and design. The range of objects - including architectural, interior, furniture, product, graphic and fashion design as well as painting, sculpture, film, photography, prints, collage - reflects the period's emphasis on the unity of the arts and the key role of the fine arts in shaping contemporary visual culture.

The exhibition concentrates on the years 1914-39. Europe and, to a lesser extent, America are the focus but the reach of Modernism is demonstrated by selected exhibits or projects from different parts of the world.

Opening: 6th April 2006

V&A Museum
London SW7 - London
Hours: 10-17.45 daily 10-22 Wednesdays and last Friday of the month

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