Exhibitions
Pleading for the Hats exhibition
The National Theatre I.L.Caragiale has the pleasure to invite you to discover Adina Nanu’s spectacular collection of costumes and hats in the lobby of the Atelier Hall for two weeks (between 8th – 22nd of February). Adina Nanu is a critic and art historian, the author of the only book about Romania’s costumes history. The exhibition opens on the occasion of the conference held by Adina Nanu at the Atelier Hall from 11:00 a.m. on February 8th.
Adina Nanu’s collection comprises some hundreds of costumes which belonged to her family or donor friends, ranging from casual dresses to evening ones, from hats, men’s costumes, accesories, decorative objects or furniture articles from ladies’ boudoir from La Belle Epoque, from the inter-war period to present costumes.
Both the conference and the exhibition are a plea for style and beauty and promote the aesthetic refinement, the fashion and ellegance of times gone by. Stressing the importance of hats in ladies’ apparel, Adina Nanu will show that a hat isn’t a simple accesory, but it is also a definite indicator for the bearer’s social, psychological and cultural profile. The conference and the exhibition addresses not only those interested in the costume history, but also art directors, fashion designers and all art lovers.
We hope that after attending the conference and the exhibition the NTB audience will cry out:”Chapeau – bas!”
„The collection formed itself as a consequence of my interest and respect for the object made with talent and skillfulness which I found in my house and kept them, I didn’t throw them away, as young people do nowadays. At first I played together with my parents, then with my children, using grandparents’ hats and clothes, then I used them as didactic material for the Arts History and Costume Art classes that I held. Relatives and friends also found in their wardrobes hats and dresses which were out of fashion, tailcoats and tuxedos which were useless, but they were filling the space and they gave them to us. I only bought the manikins and a few disparate pieces, links which were missing in the chain of some demonstrations. Even nowadays, my friends’ friends come to complete the exhibition with precious memories. I only like studying each hat or collarette to discover its origin, style and fashion it belonged to and to find its place in the exhibition so as to match the general geometry of the room, which has to recompose the atmosphere and perfume of every age. Among other things, I placed perfume bottles here and there, ranging from XIX th century pachouli to Coco Chanel’s Chanel no.5 and following. Due to these continuous changes, none of the fifteen exhibitions I have organized so far was similar to the others, starting with the first one from the Collection Museum in 1997, to the following ones from the National Arts Museum, History Museum, from Cotroceni Palace, Peles or the Costumes Museum in Venice”.
Translation made by Niculae Cristine
MTTLC, University of Bucharest
