Sat 17 March – Sun 17 June 2012
A touring exhibition organised by the Victoria and Albert Museum, London – with additional content curated by Annie Lennox and The Lowry
At the heart of the exhibition is an inventive installation created by the V&A and Annie Lennox, with The Lowry collaborating further with Annie to create significant, and exclusive additional content, for a unique exhibition this Spring.
New exhibits include a Cabinet of Curiosities and personal treasures curated by Annie Lennox; an immersive lyrics space; an extensive display dedicated to her collection of music awards from around the world, as well as iconic photographs and costumes never exhibited before, including the dress Annie wore at The Freddy Mercury tribute concert when she performed Under Pressure with David Bowie.
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Kate Farrell, Curator of Special Exhibitions at The Lowry, explains, “We are thrilled to continue our long term relationship with the V&A by displaying their performance related touring exhibitions. It is a real privilege to work with Annie Lennox; an innovator, icon and performer whose creativity and vision are a true inspiration. We are delighted to explore the wealth of archive material available, which is enabling us to double the size of the original V&A exhibition.”
Curated by Annie herself, the Cabinet of Curiosities will show treasures from her life and career, providing a fascinating insight into objects she loves and has collected over the years. The Lowry Galleries will also feature an immersive ‘lyrics space’ where visitors can explore the prose from Annie’s most famous songs from her musical career.
One of the world’s best-selling music artists, Annie Lennox has sold over 80 million records worldwide and won over 100 awards for her music. The Lowry will display many of these framed gold, silver and platinum discs embracing her entire musical career with The Tourists, Eurythmics and her solo work.
Extra photographic material as well as additional costumes will feature in The Lowry exhibition such as the Savage dress worn in The Eurythmics’ I Need a Man music video.
At the heart of the exhibition is the installation originally devised for the V&A and designed around the concept of a ‘House’, providing a visual journey through different facets of Lennox’s creativity. Objects on show will include accessories and costumes, such as the Union Jack suit worn at the 1999 Brit Awards, and the sequinned evening dress worn in the Little Bird music video. There will be handwritten lyrics, music manuscripts, personal treasures and a selection of awards ranging from the GRAMMYs to an Oscar. Ephemera from the political causes Lennox has championed such as the SING campaign for HIV/AIDS awareness will also be on display.
The House of Annie Lennox also includes immersive video projections choreographed by Lennox herself, as well as music videos of her solo work and those created and performed with Dave Stewart as Eurythmics. A selection of interviews recorded throughout her career, and an original V&A film of Lennox in conversation will examine her sources of inspiration and her thoughts on songwriting and the creative process. A series of, well-known images of Lennox by acclaimed photographers including Paolo Roversi, Pamela Hanson and Satoshi Saikusa will also be displayed, illustrating something of the breadth of Lennox’s changing visual representation across the four decades of her career.
On working with the Lowry Annie said: "It’s amazing to be able to transport The House of Annie Lennox up to Salford, and to have an opportunity to present a progression from the previous exhibition at the V & A. I’m really looking forward to taking my archive and creative vision further afield, and it’s an absolute honour to be housed at The Lowry".
This exhibition is presented as part of The Lowry’s performance related visual art programme, which explores performance practice in its broadest sense.
The House of Annie Lennox is a V&A Department of Theatre & Performance touring exhibition.