What is the obsession with Alice?
Last month, The V&A Museum opened its doors to a brand-new exhibition entitled ‘Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser’. The exhibition explores the impact and legacy of the Alice books across time and media, examining how this iconic tale has inspired some of the most creative minds across the last 150 years.
Exploring its origins, adaptations and reinventions over 157 years, this immersive and theatrical show charts the evolution of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland from manuscript to a global phenomenon beloved by all ages”.
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With over 300 objects, including manuscripts, illustrations, garments and paintings, the exhibition offers plenty to enjoy, featuring original works from the minds of Vivienne Westwood to Salvador Dali, as well as original illustrations by John Tenniel dating back to 1866.
It remains indisputable that the world of Alice and her Wonderland has remained a tale woven into our cultural fabric like little other. Now 157 years on, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland continue to inspire blockbuster films, fashion, design and modern art – leaving one to beg the question, what is the obsession with Alice?
After a year of restrictions and rules the exhibition offers that sense of escapism and fantasy which we all so desire. Beyond this, Alice herself has always been a heroine of isolation and alienation, demonstrating perseverance to get through the uneasy, unsettling and unknown.
As is our human nature in this modern age of self-awareness, we are constantly re-inventing ourselves and Alice really sparks that re-invention and invites us to keep on exploring who we are and where we want to go to, championing agency and inquisitiveness. These qualities which are so fundamental within arts, within science, within every facet of our everyday lives- it’s no wonder that that story has remained a classic for generations.