Intervention as Storytelling: Miu Miu Tales and Tellers
Words by April-Rose Desalegn
Image courtesy of Miu Miu.
Miu Miu Tales and Tellers continues to celebrate esteemed artists Goshka Macuga, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Fabio Cherstich and an expansive list of longstanding female collaborators in fashion, cinema and contemporary art in its third international iteration. Exploring 21st-century femininity and vanity, the multi-modal performance draws from the the septet of contemporary art interventions staged by female artists in Miu Miu’s seasonal shows between Spring/Summer 2022 and Spring/Summer 2025, as well as the 31 filmic shorts that make up the acclaimed Miu Miu Women’s Tales. Originally envisioned by Miuccia Prada, each individual film (or cinematic aspect of the intervention) is embodied by a performer within the space, and brought to life through unique characters, movements and gestures that capture the spirit of the work. Each performer named ‘custodian’ of her tale, Miu Miu postulates women as the ultimate tellers of tales – complex, all-encompassing vessels of truth, knowledge, and wisdom. Newly placed within the Shanghai Exhibition Centre with unique, site-specific considerations and the latest of Miu Miu’s Women’s Tales Films, Tales and Tellers offers an expansive, multidisciplinary delve into femininity through performance, re-envisaged for future female realities.
Image courtesy of Miu Miu.
Discover "Brigitte", a film by Lynne Ramsay for Miu Miu Women’s Tales. Set in a vast hydraulic factory in London, "Brigitte" captures the intimate process of renowned portrait photographer Brigitte Lacombe. Directed by Ramsay, this film explores sisterhood and the art of photography as practiced by Lacombe, featuring candid conversations and graceful movements behind the camera. Through Ramsay’s gaze, the viewer is invited to observe Lacombe’s own directorial gaze – a reflexive portrait of one artist by another artist. This 18th commission from Miu Miu Women’s Tales highlights women empowerment through the lens of female directors – exploring nuanced conceptions of sisterhood and vanity to highlights the power and creativity of women in cinema. This initiative reinforces Miu Miu’s commitment to women empowerment, diversity, and avant-garde storytelling.
Images courtesy of Miu Miu.
This new iteration of Tales and Tellers was conceived by interdisciplinary artist Goshka Macuga and convened by Elvira Dyangani Ose – the curator and artistic director of the Public Art Abu Dhabi Biennial, alongside opera and theatre director Fabio Cherstich. Each titans of their own fields, the juggernauts bridged complex artistic worlds together to form a boundary-breaking, multi-sensory experience. Through fingers and limbs, dimension is added to the films that was not there previously. Movement is added to garments in a newly confined space. Enjoyed by a list of notable guests also comprising China’s triumphant female artistic cohort such as Lexie Liu and Li Gengxi, Miu Miu Tales and Tellers expands on its musings of the ‘woman’ as both an individual figure and as a collective presence.
Image courtesy of Miu Miu.