60s fashion on display at new Montreal exhibit

By

Jennifer Braun

Published
Jun 21, 2017

As part of the official programming of Montreal’s 375th anniversary, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) is highlighting the late 1960s through fashion, design and more, in a new exhibition.
 
Dubbed Revolution, the exhibition initiated by the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London and reinterpreted by the MMFA, explores various circumstances of the era that had a profound transformation on Western society, such as Flower Power, Swinging London (where London became a major fashion capital), miniskirts, the first man on the moon, Expo 67, Woodstock, and more.
 

“Revolution transports us to the 1960s without resorting to a time machine, through the fashions, music, design, technologies and demands of the era. It’s a kaleidoscope of sights and sounds – and for me, as a baby boomer– a look back at an exciting time that was both joyful and rebellious, as the whole world was being reinvented,” said Diane Charbonneau, curator of the exhibition in Montreal, in a news statement.
 
As part of the exhibition, over 700 works and documents will be on display including clothing, designs, posters, album covers, and publications, showcasing the lifestyles of various youth cultures of the 1960s, eager for change.

Titled after the Beatles’ song Revolution, composed by John Lennon in 1968, the exhibition also offers a musical exploration of the 1960’s through hi-fi headphones where visitors can follow a circuit that synchronizes sound and image in the galleries.
 
"With momentous political upheaval across the West, it is a perfect time to consider how the finished and unfinished revolutions of the sixties have changed how we live today and affected the way we think about tomorrow. We are hugely excited that Revolution will be showing at the Museum of Fine Arts in Montreal, a city that saw its own revolution in this period when an idealistic youth culture motivated people to come together to challenge the established power structures across every area of society, and create the world they wanted to live in," said Victoria Broackes and Geoffrey Marsh, curators of the exhibition, in a news statement.
 
The exhibition opened on Saturday and will run until October 9, 2017 at the MMFA.