I’ve decided to bring Little Miss to more art exhibitions recently, so two weeks ago we paid a visit to the Miss Dior exhibit at the Grand Palais, showing the work of 25 female artists inspired by the house’s first fragrance, Miss Dior.
Unfortunately for us the queue was longer than expected — even though we arrived at the opening hour! I debated trying to bypass everyone but pangs of guilt held me back, so Little Miss and I reluctantly joined the line.
After waiting 30 minutes in the cold we made it to the next obstacle, the stairs! A massive flight of steps leading into the Grand Palais and then another flight up this winding staircase (below). Strollers had to be checked at the inside entrance — oops! Off to a bad beginning…
But at the top of the stairs Mr. Dior was waiting for us… and a large, open room! Perfect for little legs that had been strapped in under a rain cover for the last 30 minutes.
This large painting (above) by Liang Yuanwei, China’s representative at the 2011 Venice Biennale, was inspired by this Dior Haute Couture dress (below). Sublime.
The art work obviously flirted with the girly as well, like this carbon fibre pink bow (above) from Portuguese artist, Joana Vasconcelos, and this feminine installation (below) by artist, Nika Zupanc, allowing visitors to enter and sit on the dainty bow chair in their own Dior room.
I would have liked to peek in this Lee Bul installation, a hanging pod covered in hanji paper, but Little Miss was already going ballistic! Too many of the works of art (see below, by Maria Nepomuceno and Alyson Shotz) were on the floor, so without a stroller, I was forced to hold on to her as she tried to wiggle and kick her way back to the ground. Not fun!
My last attempt to tame the beast, after failing with the Shirin Neshat short film of Natalie Portman, was to let Little Miss free on the steps leading up to a selection of portraits of Mr. Christian Dior by artists such as Bernard Buffet and Marc Chagall.
Once she was a little calmer I dragged her downstairs and off we ran for our bus home! I was so happy to get her back in the stroller!!!
Lessons learned: next time I won’t hesitate to pull the baby card and jump the queue as she was definitely overly energetic after spending the 30 minutes outside under the rain cover, plus I will definitely avoid exhibitions that have unguarded works of art on the floor! I hope Dior will think of babies and also handicapped persons in future as well. This was the most baby-unfriendly exhibit I have ever attended! Let’s hope we have more luck with the next one!
Miss Dior, 13 to 25 November, at the Grand Palais, Paris.
Paris Bee -- Kids Blog and Guide 