Queen Máxima to open Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses exhibition and to visit Viviane Sassen exhibition
On the evening of Tuesday 28 November Her Majesty Queen Máxima will open the exhibition Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. The following morning on Wednesday 29 November she will pay a working visit to the Maison Européenne de la Photographie where she will view the exhibition Viviane Sassen – Phosphor: Art & Fashion and speak with young photographers.
Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses
On Tuesday evening Queen Máxima, together with the artist herself, will open the retrospective Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses. The Musée des Arts Décoratifs, the largest museum for decorative arts in Europe, invited Ms Van Herpen to show her work, honouring her ground-breaking designs. Ms Van Herpen combines the craftsmanship of traditional couture with the use of innovative techniques. This exhibition brings together essential features of Ms Van Herpen’s work, which focuses on fashion, contemporary art, design and science. The exhibition revolves around nine themes, including ‘water’ and ‘skeletons’, both of which are prominent elements of Ms Van Herpen’s designs. A replica of Ms Van Herpen’s studio has also been installed, allowing visitors to experience how new pieces are designed.
Following the opening, Queen Máxima will be given a tour, during which she will speak with curator Cloé Pitiot, assistant curator Louise Curtis and the minds behind the nine themes. Queen Máxima will also speak with staff from the museum and Ms Van Herpen’s studio about the realisation of the exhibition.
The exhibition runs from 29 November 2023 to 28 April 2024 in Paris. It will then travel on to Brisbane, Singapore, Los Angeles and Rotterdam.
Viviane Sassen – Phosphor: Art & Fashion
On Wednesday morning Queen Máxima will visit the exhibition Viviane Sassen – Phosphor: Art & Fashion at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie. She will be given a tour of the exhibition and speak with Ms Sassen about her work. She will also meet with several French and Dutch photographers who live and/or work across the border.
The Maison Européenne de la Photographie is a centre for contemporary photography and is home to a wide collection of photographs and videos from the 1950s to the present. Viviane Sassen – Phosphor: Art & Fashion is the first retrospective of Dutch photographer Viviane Sassen in France and includes more than 200 works of art, such as photographs, collages, videos and mixed-media pieces. In addition to previously shown pieces, the exhibition also includes archive material that is being exhibited for the first time. The exhibition is structured around two main concepts: the never-ending search for new photographic techniques and forms, and the importance of intimacy in Ms Sassen’s work. Ms Sassen has shown her work around the world and also regularly participates in group exhibitions, such as FLASH | BACK, which was held in the Mauritshuis in 2022. In 2007, Ms Sassen won the Prix de Rome. The exhibition runs to 11 February 2024.
Government Information Service, no. 261