I stumbled upon the
exhibition almost as curiously as Alice stumbled down the rabbit hole—a little
dazed and confused, but unlike poor Alice, I ended up pleasantly surprised. To
celebrate 150 years of Lewis Carroll’s fantasy dream, the exhibition explores
how Alice captured generations of wonder, through a journey consisting of Lewis
Carroll’s original manuscripts, illustrations and interpretations over the
years.
Life-sized illustrations
of bottles and the Red Queen welcome the visitor as they come through the
exhibition. The main bit is separated into 3 parts—the story he told Alice
Liddell, the publication of the original text, and the memoribilia and
spin-offs it had over the next 150 years. In this section, the highlight is
Carroll’s original manuscript, where he scribbled and fleshed out the
inspiration for his wondorous story.
My other personal
favourite was reviewing the interpretations and re-interpretations of the Alice
story over the decades. The famed author Salvador Dali’s interpretation of
Alice was also on display, suggesting how Alice’s enchating story has touched
all of us over the world. It was interesting to note that no matter what the
interpretation of the story was, and no matter who was interpreting it, the
story never strayed far from Carroll’s original.
The pop-up shop for the
exhibition is littered with all sorts of cool artefacts like dainty plates and
journals written in pretty manuscript to colouring books that induce both
adults and children alike. While the exhibition is not as large or grand as one
might expect, the pop-up shop offers visitors a place where they can browse and
purchase bits of the Alice story that resonate the most with them.
Alice in Wonderland’s
marketing heyday seems endless. Even today, every variation of the Alice story
has been done and beat to death. From Tim Burton’s creepy live-action film
rendition, Electronic Arts’ psychological game thriller versions to Disney’s
lovable, children’s cartoon, Alice still continues to inspire. The underlying
and overlapping themes and layers to the Alice story will continue to be
unwrappd and unravelled, as we interpret her story in new lights and new
perspectives. Like Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, our adventures through
this strange and sometimes twisted and confusing world will scare us and cause
us to question our decisions. Like Alice, the world will continue to try
talking sense and convince us with reason in an otherwise senseless situation.
But like the Cheshire Cat says, “Imagination is the only weapon in the war
against reality” and the continuous wonderment Alice gives us is a reminder of
that.
Details
Name:
|
Alice in Wonderland
|
Where:
|
Entrance Hall
The British Library 96 Euston Road London NW1 2DB |
When:
|
Fri 20 Nov 2015 - Sun 17 Apr
2016
|
Price:
|
Free
|
No comments:
Post a Comment