Presented by MONASH UNIVERSITY MUSEUM OF ART
media Release
IMAGINING CHANEL
Wednesday 26 March 2014
Date: Wednesday 26 March
Session Times:
6.30pm; 7.30pm; 8.30pm
(duration 45 mins)
Venue: Monash University
Museum of Art, Building F,
Caulfield Campus
Tickets: $20 / $15 conc.
Available from
www.trybooking.com/EBKV
Bookings are essential
Imagining Chanel, a
performance work by artist
and fashion psychologist Adele
Varcoe will have its Melbourne
premiere at the Monash
University Museum of Art on
Wednesday 26 March 2014.
The event is presented as part
of MUMA’s participation as a
cultural partner in the Virgin
Australia Melbourne Fashion
Festival (VAMFF).
and hosting a fashion parade
where the audience were naked
and the models clothed.
This performance contains
nudity and is suitable for 18+
audiences only.
Imagining Chanel has previously
been performed in London and
Sydney with actors playing the
roles of a number of characters
that were present at Chanel
Salon Fashion Shows in the
1920s.
Varcoe says, “I use nudity as a
tool to challenge dress.”
Imagining Chanel mimics the
style and form of Chanel Salon
Fashion Shows from the 1920s
to explore a range of physical
descriptions of garments from
the collection of The Victoria
and Albert Museum and The
National Gallery of Victoria.
Guests are requested to enter
into the spirit of the event by
wearing 1920s dress to the
performances at MUMA.
Adele Varcoe, who lectures
in fashion at RMIT University
has previously constructed
a number of “situations” to
explore how clothes can
effect the way we interact.
These include having a naked
model mingle with guests at a
Melbourne exhibition opening
Ground Floor, Building F
Monash University, Caulfield Campus
900 Dandenong Road
Caulfield East VIC 3145 Australia
Drawing on the Hans Christian
Anderson fairy tale ‘The
Emperor’s New Clothes’ the
performance highlights the
role of the viewer’s imagination
in the creation of fashion,
suggesting that fashion exists
predominantly in our minds.
www.monash.edu.au/muma
Telephone +61 3 9905 4217
muma@monash.edu
Tues – Fri 10am – 5pm; Sat 12 – 5pm
For media enquiries contact
Kate Barber: Audience
Development & Public Programs
03 9905 4356
Kate.Barber@monash.edu
Photo: Adele Varcoe