#max hollein

[crosseyedcricketart]

MET Gala 2024, "The Garden of Time"

[balimode]

See, kids, not even the CEO of the MET and his wife can escape doing terribly at this thing.

[milksockets]

wolfgang paalen in surreal objects: 3-dimensional works from dali to man ray - ingrid pfieffer + max hollein (2011)

[shefanispeculator]

What is the Met Gala theme this year?

The theme of this year's Met Gala stems from the latest exhibition by the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion." 

"When an item of clothing enters our collection, its status is changed irrevocably. What was once a vital part of a person's lived experience is now a motionless 'artwork' that can no longer be worn or heard, touched, or smelled. The exhibition endeavors to reanimate these artworks by re-awakening their sensory capacities through a diverse range of technologies, affording visitors sensorial 'access' to rare historical garments and rarefied contemporary fashions," curator Andrew Bolton said. "By appealing to the widest possible range of human senses, the show aims to reconnect with the works on display as they were originally intended—with vibrancy, with dynamism, and ultimately with life."    

This year's theme goes hand-in-hand with a dress code, dubbed "The Garden of Time." 

The Met Gala's dress code is usually quite loosely interpreted by guests, and is used as a jumping off point for outfits, making for some memorable red carpet moments. 

What exhibition is the 2024 Met Gala theme celebrating?

"Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion" is the exhibit the Met Gala will be celebrating. 

The story behind the exhibit's name has to do with the garments that will be on display. Roughly 250 garments will be shown from the Costume Institute's collection of 33,000 pieces. Many of the ones that will be on display are typically never shown. Some are said to be too fragile to hang, for fear of them falling apart. 

Instead, they will lie in glass cases, like the fabled Sleeping Beauty. 

"The Met's innovative spring 2024 Costume Institute exhibition will push the boundaries of our imagination and invite us to experience the multisensory facets of a garment, many of which get lost when entering a museum collection as an object. Sleeping Beauties will heighten our engagement with these masterpieces of fashion by evoking how they feel, move, sound, smell and interact when being worn, ultimately offering a deeper appreciation of the integrity, beauty and artistic brilliance of the works on display," Met Museum Director Max Hollein said.    

What does "The Garden of Time" have to do with Sleeping Beauty?

"Sleeping Beauty" is a classic fable of a beautiful princess who is sent into a magical sleep only to be reawakened by the kiss of her true love. It is frequently interpreted as being about how true love will conquer all. 

"The Garden of Time" is a short story by J.G Ballard. The story concerns a couple living in a beautiful home. 

A mob is slowly making its way inevitably toward them, bringing destruction. In the couple's garden grow "time flowers," and each one that is plucked sends the mob back in time, further away from their inevitable arrival at their home. But the garden is no longer growing new flowers, and the destruction of their exquisite home and life together is inevitable. 

The exhibition itself, like a garden, will also be a multisensory experience, designed to stimulate all the senses. The galleries will be arranged "exploring a different theme inspired by the natural world," the Met said. As an example, the floors of one gallery space will be animated with snakes, and the ceiling of another with a projection of birds. 

"Punctuating the exhibition will be a series of 'sleeping beauties'—garments that can no longer be dressed on mannequins due to their extreme fragility—that will be displayed in glass 'coffins' allowing visitors to analyze their various states of deterioration as if under a microscope," the Met said. 

[themakeupbrush]

Putting on my conspiracy theory hat today. This feels like they had another theme that fell apart at the last minute...however, I think it would be great to see attendees lean into the vintage, slow fashion, and sustainability angles of the Met showcasing their existing collection. But I'm afraid we'll see princesses and several poorly thought out scrouge cosplays instead.

So short answer is probably not. This is from a vogue article on the met gala from a few years ago, and is pretty much the same as it was shown in the met gala documentary (first Monday in may)

When Bolton and his team are happy with a theme, they present it to the museum’s director and president for approval, positions held by recent appointees Max Hollein and Daniel H. Weiss. Though this approval process takes place about a year in advance, the research Bolton and his team undertake happens years in advance. The hands-on curation of a show starts as soon as the spring show opens, giving the 32-person team 12 months to make the magic happen all over again After receiving the blessing from the top brass, then Anna Wintour, Condé Nast editorial director and editor-in-chief of American Vogue, gets her say. Wintour has become Bolton’s close ally and an integral player in the Met’s Gala and spring exhibition. "It would be difficult to do it without her support," he says. "Anna works out what sponsors would be appropriate for the exhibition. Sometimes I have an idea, and it’s less of a big idea or popular idea, which is not terribly appealing to sponsors," he says with a laugh. "Anna is extraordinary and supports us in so many ways, but in particular by going out for sponsorship."

I think it’s possible certain aspects of the exhibit or theme needed to be adjusted, but they didn’t come up with an entire theme and exhibit in a month or so.

Given the fact that attendees stopped at the “gilded” part of “gilded glamor” and didnt even make the connection to the gilded age and just wore gold, I have NO expectations that people will do anything interesting. I’m already getting comments that people don’t get the theme or think it’s lame (the priority is the exhibit, not the theme!)

[iwanthermidnightz]

✨MET GALA 2024 THEME✨

Announced today, the Spring 2024 exhibit will be entitled “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion.” Approximately 250 items drawn from the Costume Institute’s permanent collection—some very rarely seen in public before—will be displayed in an entirely new way. Max Hollein, The Met’s Marina Kellen French Director and CEO, said: “This innovative show will push the boundaries of our imagination and invite us to experience many facets of a work, to learn more about its history, and, ultimately, to gain a deeper appreciation of its beauty.”

From a 17th century English Elizabethan-era bodice to 21st century acquisitions by designers including Phillip Lim, Stella McCartney, and Connor Ives, the core exhibit will span 400 years of history. Other pieces featured will include designs by Elsa Schiaparelli, Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Dior, Hubert de Givenchy, and many other canonical fashion creators. These will lie at the heart of a curation that aims to unstitch and enlighten our understanding of the natural world through the fashioning of dress and textiles.

Speaking in advance of this morning’s announcement, Andrew Bolton, Wendy Yu Curator in Charge of The Costume Institute, said: “Fashion is one of the most emotional artistic forms because of its connection to the body. It is imbued with memory and emotions, and we relate to it very much via our senses. One thing I hope this show will activate is that sensorial appreciation of fashion.”

Bolton explained that the exhibition will be structured around approximately 50 historically significant and aesthetically beautiful pieces from the collection that are far too fragile ever to be worn again. “These are the ‘Sleeping Beauties’ of the title,” he said. Instead of fulfilling their original worn function, these pieces—including that Elizabethan bodice and a silk satin ballgown by the American couturier Charles Frederick Worth from 1877 that was the show’s original inspiration—will instead be transformed through display.

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On a sunny but cold Sunday afternoon, hundreds of pro-Palestine activists unfurled a massive quilt on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, calling for an end to Israel’s hostilities in Gaza. The action, which began around 12:40pm today, March 24, attracted over 350 participants.  Titled “From Occupation to Liberation,” the quilt was comprised of 65 artworks by various anonymous artists, some featuring traditional Palestinian taṭrīz embroidery. Other squares referenced poet Refaat Alareer, who was killed by Israeli bombardments in Gaza, and Thomas Kilpper’s “Jenin Horse” (2003) — a 16-foot sculpture that previously stood in the West Bank city of Jenin before it was removed by Israeli forces in late October. As the quilt was spread out across the museum’s main entrance, activists encircled the display, carrying signs that read “We See Genocide,” “Let Gaza Live,” and “None Of Us Are Free Until Palestine Is Free.” Simultaneously, protesters chanted phrases such as “Free Palestine” and “Art for Liberation, Not for Colonization” while various groups put on performances in reference to Palestinian dabkeh folk dance.

Organizers of the protest told Hyperallergic that the artwork was modeled after the historic NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt. Prints of the quilt are also available for purchase online. All proceeds will go to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the humanitarian relief organization that aids Palestinian refugees in Gaza and elsewhere, recently targeted by Israel and the US. The action came barely a week after the release of a group open letter signed by 158 Met workers urging the institution’s Director and Chief Executive Officer Max Hollein to issue a statement in support of a ceasefire and address Israel’s destruction of Palestine. No arrests were made, despite heavy police presence ahead of the protest. Patrons were still able to enter and exit the museum, some approached by protesters who handed out mock Met brochures. 

Urging people to “Dump the Fine Art of Imperialism,” the brochures called out the museum’s role in upholding colonialist power structures. They cited The Met’s physical location on Indigenous Lenape land, as well as its ties to Israeli violence via trustees and donors including Michael Steinhardt, Ronald S. Lauder, and Ted Pick. There were a few confrontations between the demonstrators and passersby, some escalating to shouting matches. Other bystanders welcomed the protest, some even joining in. Flor Sarna, a tourist from New Mexico, told Hyperallergic she was “pleasantly surprised“ by the action. Jacki Steiger, a museum visitor on a business trip from Los Angeles, said they were “overwhelmed,” but “glad to see so many people out” in support of Palestinians. 

“Everyone has a responsibility to speak up and to do what they can to spread information about the genocide in Gaza,” said actor Rowan Blanchard, who participated in the action, pointing out the significant platform that the museum holds, especially as the annual Met Gala approaches. The Met declined to comment on the protest. The protesters’ original plan to march toward the Neue Galerie and Guggenheim Museum up Fifth Avenue was scrapped in the interest of safety. The group dispersed peacefully around 2:30pm. 

-- "Activists Unfurl Massive Quilt for Gaza on Met Museum Steps" by Maya Pontone and Rhea Nayyar for Hyperallergic, 24 Mar 2024

[southeastasianarchaeology]

Recent Repatriations to Cambodia and Thailand

This statement by Max Hollein is dated to last year, right when the news of the Met's return of artefacts to Cambodia and Thailand was announced, but I don't think I posted this one. 

via Metropolitan Museum of Art, 18 December 2023: This statement by Max Hollein is dated to last year, right when the news of the Met’s return of artefacts to Cambodia and Thailand was announced, but I don’t think I posted this one. The works of art being repatriated were made between the 9th and 14th centuries in the Angkorian period and reflect the Hindu and Buddhist religious systems…

[citylifeorg]

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Welcomes First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska

Image: Courtesy of the Office of the First Lady of Ukraine First Lady Zelenska was greeted by Director and CEO Max Hollein and briefed on various initiatives The Met has undertaken in support of Ukrainian culture, including an overview of a new social media series that will feature various Ukrainian voices The Metropolitan Museum of Art this week welcomed First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska…

[craft2eu]

Lilli Hollein ist neue Generaldirektorin und wissenschaftliche Geschäftsführerin im MAK Wien

Lilli Hollein ist neue Generaldirektorin und wissenschaftliche Geschäftsführerin im MAK Wien

Eine weitere Powerfrau übernimmt die Leitung eines ausserordentlich wichtigen Museums und sorgt damit für mehr Frauenpower auf der höchsten musealen Verantwortungsebene.  Die Tochter des renomierten Architekten Hans Hollein und Schwester von Max Hollein, dem aktuellen Leiter des Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Lilli Hollein ist die neue Generaldirektorin und wissenschaftliche…

[girlsdressingrooms]

Brendan McCann’s science-inspired dress for this year's Met Gala!

Every first Monday in May since 1948, society’s cultural haut monde gathers under the guise of fundraising for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute to compete for the most fashionable, and increasingly most outlandish, outfit in the Met Gala.

Brendan McCann’s (an artist and art teacher based in New York) handmade dress honors the real celebrities of our era: the scientists and medical experts who created safe and effective coronavirus vaccines in record time.

His dress features a flared skirt of paper vaccination cards and an asymmetrical corset composed of jeweled Band-Aids. The ensemble comes together with a towering needle headpiece and a plastic “FAUCI” clutch filled with donuts freely provided by Krispy Kreme to anyone who is vaccinated. Purple latex gloves complete the look.

“The vaccination couture is made out of a table cover, poster board, craft foam, and other materials I had lying around my apartment, and some things from the dollar store,” McCann said to Hyperallergic.

“One day I hope I can attend the actual Gala,” he added. “It would be a dream come true. Even if they just want me to vacuum the steps … I’m available!” (Hey Max Hollein, we hope you’re listening!)

Photo by Josh Levinson / @JKLPhoto, courtesy of Brendan McCann,

by Valentina Di Liscia for Hyperallergic

[imperium-romanum]

Less than two years after an acquisition, the Metropolitan Museum of Art announced today that it had handed over a first-century BC gilded coffin to the Manhattan district attorney for return to the Egyptian government after discovering that it had been looted in 2011.

The Met’s statement said it had been “fully cooperative” in recent months with an investigation by the district attorney’s office into the coffin’s origins.

The museum acquired the coffin of Nedjemankh, which was until this week the centrepiece of a Met exhibition, in July 2017 from what it then described as a private collection. The institution says it now realises that it was given a fraudulent ownership history as well as a forged 1971 Egyptian export license for the coffin.

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[milksockets]

roland penrose in surreal objects: 3-dimensional works from dali to man ray - ingrid pfieffer + max hollein (2011)

[afriupdatenews]

Met returns three artworks looted under British colonial rule to Nigeria

Met returns three artworks looted under British colonial rule to Nigeria

FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: Visitors walk along the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, March 6, 2006. REUTERS/Keith Bedford/File Photo New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art on Monday officially returned three works of art to Nigeria that were looted in the 19th century, as museums make increasing efforts to repatriate some foreign treasures. The two 16th-century brass plaques and a…

[uartslibraries]

Klimt & Rodin: An Artistic Encounter

Tobias G. Natter and Max Hollein

Call # N6811.5 .K55 K59 2017