A view of the end of the exhibition showing Diaghilev’s death mask, set designs for The Prodigal Son and costumes for Le Bal as well as the legacy section with the final AV screen.
This week the exhibition has been crowded with about four times the numbers of visitors we have had in previous weeks. While before New Year it was very comfortable, enabling the visitors easy access to captions (Yes I know it depends on how tall you are as to how easy they are to read) and to view the AVs. I will admit that with the hoards flocking in it makes a visit a less enjoyable experience – but we have to rejoice in the public showing such an interest.
Tomorrow, Sunday, is the last day that Diaghilev and the Golden Age of the Ballets Russes 1909-1929 is open. Just as the curtain falls on a theatrical production for the last time and it is never seen again – only surviving in the memory of those who saw it – the same is true of an exhibition. Will this ‘mother of Diaghilev exhibitions’ remain in the memory for more than half a century? It would be nice to believe it might.
While the V&A’s exhibition is not touring, about 50% of the material displayed will be seen in Quebec, Barcelona and Madrid over the next 18 months.
Of course closure if far from the end of the story and this blog will continue through the de-installation period as we pack up the material travelling, send loans back to their homes, and put the non-travelling objects back into the V&A the collections to which they belong.