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From the 1930’s to the present, flight attendant uniforms have changed from military inspired outfits to pillbox topped glamour to psychedelic patterns to modern pieces created by top designers.
Of course I have an interest in these uniforms! I have worn one for almost 27 years!
So, shortly before heading to Rotterdam, when I learned from a friend that the Kunsthal Museum was displaying an exhibit on flight attendant uniforms, I knew that I had to see it!
The Kunsthal Museum, located in the Museumpark in Rotterdam is unique in that it offers no permanent collection, instead, a wide range of temporary exhibits, attracting visitors who may come from one artist and open their mind to another totally different kind of art.
On the day that I was visiting the museum, the uniforms were what I was there to see, however, it was learned upon my arrival that I would also be viewing exhibits on cats, Cat Love, Nine Lives in the Arts, artist Paul Delvaux, Master of the Dream, photographer, Jeroen Oerlemans, and a display on the nominees of the Prix de Rome Visual Arts 2017, Melanie Bonajo (1978), Rana Hamadeh (1983), Saskia Noor Van Imhoff (1982) and Kararina Zdjelar (1979).
The modern structure, sectioned into halls, thoughtfully leads visitors through each of its offerings. Though I was anxious to see the Cabin Crew exhibit, I decided to follow the path marked by the Kunsthal. So…another exhibit on cats was in the cards.
Social media is inundated with fetching felines. Anywhere you look on you YouTube today, you can find countless videos on cats. Check out Instagram and you’ll find cats exposed by their owners. In fact, cats are more popular than ever. Over the years, cats have inspired many artistic masterpieces by Henriette Ronner-Knip, Théophile-Alexandre Steinelen, Karel Appel, Picasso and Wallasse Ting, contemporary artists such as David Shrigley and photographer Marie Cécele Thijs and many of these are on display here. Meandering through the hall, you are offered some insight into how these artists were inspired by numerous felines. In fact, one area of the museum offers a place to experience what it is like to be a cat…creep around on all fours among the bushes, take a nap on one of the “cat beds”, sharpen your nails on a scratching post or take a stroll down the Catwalk. Cat lovers will be in heaven!
As I followed the natural progression of the exhibits of the Kunsthal, the next hall offered what I had come to see. Flight Attendant uniforms.
In a relatively narrow but lofty space, over 200 uniforms are offered from KLM purser, Cliff Muskiet’s private collection. In 1993, his compilation, the largest in the world, was begun and has grown to include more than 1400 uniforms from 523 different airlines. “Cabin Crew. Fashion in the Air” offers a look into the progression of the uniforms over the years from practical and sober to classy and chic, many created by prominent designers such as Yves Saint Laurent, Cristóbal Balenciaga and Mart Visser. Take note of the now defunct Braniff International uniform, and the 1965 design by Emilio Pucci, which required flight attendants to change different items of the uniform to surprise passengers throughout the entirety of the flight. This particular uniform included a space helmet to protect the flight attendant’s hair from the rain!
My favorites, however, were those that represented the cultural heritage of the airline, like Thai Airways, Allegheny Airlines, so proud of their name and of course, those worn throughout my own airline’s history! Though I loved seeing the various costumes worn by thousands, the way that they were displayed in a vertical manner, made it hard to inspect each of them at close range. All in all, however, it was thrilling to see such an awe-inspiring compilation of something so near and dear to my heart!
Paul Delvaux, the Belgian painter considered to be one of the most important surrealists or The Master of the Dream, has the honor of having an exhibition on the 25th anniversary of the Kunshal. Ninety of his works were displayed in Hall 2, which focus on the his most important themes, the female body, dreams, mystery, travel, trains and loneliness.
Though I cannot say that he was an artist whose work was one that I had previously sought out, I did enjoy his nude portraits of women from the 1920s and the paintings that incorporated macabre skeletons. The dreamlike quality exhibited in his work was extremely calming!
The next artist showcased in the Kunstal, was photographer Jeroen Oerlemans, a Dutch press photographer, who captured mesmerizing shots from Afghanistan, Chad, Libya, Haiti and Iraq of the local residents, despite the danger he constantly faced. The celebrated three-time recipient of the first prize in the Silver Camera foreign news category was unfortunately killed in 2016 by an IS sniper in the Libyan city of Sirte.
Finally, the display on the nominees of the Prix de Rome Visual Arts 2017 beckoned. While Paul Delvaux’s works were more of a classical nature, the exhibition highlighting the four contenders was a bit more modern.
Melanie Bonajo’s work on the second part of her trilogy, Progress vs. Sunsets shows how our relation to nature has changed through the popularity of amateur videos in which animals have become actors of human imagination. Cats, anyone?
Lebanese born artist, Rana Hamadeh’s, The Ten Murders of Josephine, explores the constitutive conditions of ‘validity’ within legal discourse. Huh? Yes, I was a bit confused by this one, too.
In the third contender’s display, Saskia Noor van Imhoff, the investigation of how a space might serve as an artificial showcase in which various subjects are connected to each other in an associative way, so as to form a new meaning is presented. I’ll admit, this one was confusing, too.
The final nominee, Katarina Zdjelar’s film, Not A Pillar, Not A Plie, is presented which was inspired by archival documents from a dance studio founded in 1945, in post-war Dresden. The myriad of screens in the darkened room offered footage from Zdjelar’s work and was quite captivating.
After completing my tour of the last exhibit, I took a bit of time to take more of a leisurely stroll throughout the remaining parts of the building and its stunning architecture. Through a timeline on the Kunsthal in the auditorium, I learned of the history of the museum. designed by Rem Koolhaas.
Despite visiting the museum for a specific purpose, I can concede that it was nice to step out of the winter day and enjoy some different types of art that I had not anticipated. Sometimes the best things are the least expected!
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Kunsthal
- https://www.kunsthal.nl/en/#tijdlijn-2018-02
- Address: Westzeedijk 341, 3015 AA Rotterdam, Netherlands
- Hours: Tuesday thru Saturday, 1000-1700, Sunday, 1100-1700
- Admission: Adults, 14€, Students under 17 years, free
