Alice: Curiouser And Curiouser
V&A | LONDON
Exhibited May - Dec 2021
The V&A’s highly anticipated ‘Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser’ exhibition explores the origins, adaptations and reinventions of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, over the last 157 years. The exhibition provides theatrical staging for an immersive and mind-bending journey down the rabbit hole. It was awarded “Highly Commended for Best Temporary Exhibition of the Year (over £80K)” at the Museum & Heritage Awards in June 2022.
It was due to welcome fans in June 2020, but for obvious reasons, its opening was delayed. The exhibition is now open and will run until the end of the year.
OUR ROLE
Greenway Associates were the appointed as Project Manager and Quantity Surveyor for this exhibition. Liam McFaul was our lead on this project, who said,
“Alice is a show that is as unique as it is captivating. It’s set to be a statement exhibition in London this year and will really appeal to a diverse audience. Look out for an immersive ‘through the looking glass’ experience that you won’t forget! This exhibition is one of the most collaborative projects that we have ever worked on, and we think the results are testament to that. We have really enjoyed being part of this project.”
- Liam McFaul
THE EXHIBITION
The exhibition design is a collaboration between RFK Architects and Tom Piper, creator of the Tower of London’s poppies installation. The exhibition is nothing if not ambitious, spanning art, film, performance, fashion, and photography.
After starting by going down the rabbit hole, the exhibition is divided into five sections, covering the origins of the characters in Victorian Oxford to its countless adaptions. The displays feature the original concept art for Disney’s 1951 animated version, as well as artwork from Salvador Dali, sketches and costumes from Tim Burton’s 2010 film, plus still from The Royal Ballet, Royal Opera House, Royal National Theatre, the Vivienne Westwood runway, the Viktor & Rolf runway, the Beatles and much more. The last section looks into the modern day fascination with Alice through the works of Gwen Stefani, P. Diddy, Annie Leibovitz and more. Visitors will exit the exhibition through the looking glass.
WHAT THE PRESS SAY
★★★★★
”In the end, this delightfully unhinged journey offers no answers and ties itself to no theory. It just leaves you marvelling at how a children’s bestseller from the Victorian age defined our modern sense of life’s oddness in a way matched only by far less accessible modernist texts such as The Trial, Finnegans Wake or Endgame. There must have been something in the tea. See this and feed your head.”
★★★★★
“a rabbit hole well worth tumbling down”
- The Times
★★★★★
Duchess of Cambridge hails V&A Museum reopening as she joins crowds flocking back.
“The highlight of her visit… was the V&A’s landmark 2021 exhibition, postponed from last year, which is an exploration through film, performance, fashion, art, music and photography of Lewis Carroll’s Alice In Wonderland over the past 158 years. Kate seemed particularly animated as she viewed an interactive Mat Hatters’ Tea Party, complete with dormouse.”
THE DETAILS
Client: V&A
Designer: Tom Piper & RFK Architects
Project Manager: Greenway Associates
Quantity Surveyor: Greenway Associates
Status: Completed 2021
Awarded: M&H Highly Commended for Best Temporary Exhibition of the Year (over £80K)