Late last year, the fate of Taipei's Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) hung in the balance as staff contracts were due to expire on Dec. 31 with no designated replacement team. At the last minute the museum's board of directors, the Contemporary Art Foundation, appointed Lai Hsiang-ling (
Lai has had extensive experience working in cultural institutions such as the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington and the National Culture and Arts Foundation in Taipei.
Running a contemporary art museum is no easy task as a balance needs to be struck between achieving high attendance levels and promoting new art that sometimes includes ideas from innovative artists who veer from the mainstream.
In the future, MOCA will encourage creativity in all spheres of life by organizing divergent exhibitions and performances, Lai said.
For MOCA's first exhibition this year, 50 Years of Italian Fashion, two fashion journalists Fiorella Galgano and Alessia Tota have collected pieces from familiar Italian fashion designers such as Gucci and Valentino.
The exhibition is partly sponsored by the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, which presented the successful Vivienne Westwood Retrospective last year.
The exhibition includes aesthetic objects such as paintings and sculptures, finely designed fashion and other diverse expressions of beauty.
Laid out on the second floor, the huge exhibition room features a catwalk.
Piped music accompanies the various sparkly garments which adorn mannequins, while framed posters featuring individual designers line the walls. For such an exciting theme, there seems to be a lack of effervescence, or historical insight.
In comparison, the Vivienne Westwood Retrospective gave a sense of time and place and historical development, which is absent in this current exhibition: it is hard to tell what was created in 1950 or 1990.
Unfortunately, the exhibition doesn't offer a deep insight into Italian culture, society, politics, or history. In other words, the experience feels like walking through a high-end department store: wonderful things to marvel at, but no further engagement.
Fifty Years of Italian Fashion is divided into four sections -- men's apparel, women's apparel, brands and accessories -- and looks at clothing designed in the post-war era.
Over 70 brand name items inclu-ding haute couture (custom-made unique pieces), pret a porter, (ready to wear), sketches, photographs, jewelry and accessories are displayed.
Versace, Armani, Gucci, Valentino, Prada, Dolce & Gabbana: these well-known designers and brands are well represented. Even a Fendi full-length fur coat is within the viewer's touch. Some items were made famous by the stars who wore them such as the Brioni tuxedo for Pierce Brosnan in the James Bond movie Die Another Day.
Some pieces were inspired by paintings.
Gai Mattiolo's designs refer to famous paintings such as the Harlequin dress with a hand-painted Botticelli-inspired bodice.
Overall, the items of clothing are beautifully designed and tailored, but the experience of looking at the display of mannequins wearing high fashion is just about as deep and not that much different from making a foray into the top-end boutiques at Taipei 101.
Art Notes:
What: 50 Years of Italian Fashion
Where: Museum of Contemporary Art (台北當代藝術館), 39, Changan W Rd (台北市長安西路39號).
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