Symphony in velvet
Art meets fashion at the Cairo Opera House, where Nyier Abdou walks in the shadow of Roberto Capucci's colossal dress sculptures
Haute couture, always a voyeuristic trade, finds a new level of expression in the work of Italian designer Roberto Capucci. His "dress sculptures" -- 14 of which were on view in the halls of the Cairo Opera House till last week -- are an assault on the senses. These striking forms, executed in bold colours, are arrested in space, their presence transcending the realm of fashion to spill over, decidedly, into the world of contemporary art.
Installed at the Opera House as part of an ongoing Egyptian- Italian cultural and economic exchange programme that commenced in October 2003 -- the Egypt-Italy Year -- the exhibition was launched last month to a gathering of Cairo's cultural elite. The event featured Capucci -- silver hair swept back, eyes twinkling -- touring the exhibition grounds with his hands clasped behind his back in charmed approval of the final results, flanked by First Undersecretary of State for Foreign Cultural Relations Cherif El-Shoubashy and Italian Ambassador to Egypt Antonio Badini.
All but two of the sculptures on display -- bodices rising proudly out of a jumble of painstakingly layered fabrics -- were designed for the 1995 Centenary of the Venice Biennale. The centrepiece, displayed in the entry hall, was intended for the 1998 World Expo in Lisbon. Dedicated, according to Capucci, "to the ocean", it boasts no less than 27 shades of blue. Another work, occupying its own alcove above the hall, was commissioned in 2001 to celebrate "50 years of Italian fashion". All told, Capucci has produced 164 costumes, which transit exhibitions from New York to London to Tokyo. A museum to house his art is now in the works too.
The 73-year-old Capucci, who was made a "Knight of the Great Cross" by the Italian Presidency in 2002, looks far younger than his years -- evidence that a life in fashion moves in youthful universe all its own. He was delighted to be invited to show in Cairo, he says, noting that, "Personally, I like Cairo very much. I've been here many times as a tourist."
Made as sculptures, the dresses on show have never been worn. A fashion designer through and through, nonetheless, Capucci, in addition to his haute couture and art house in Rome, maintains a ready-to-wear fashion line out of his design house in Milan. But can the present offerings be worn? "Oh yes," Enrico Minio, a partner in Capucci's design house, replied without hesitation. "They are made with the same technique as dresses, so, theoretically, they are wearable," he adds. "There are some dresses that were not born as sculptures, very similar to those, that are regularly worn." That said, both Capucci and Minio are adamant about this exhibition's designation: it is an art show and nothing else.
It takes two to five months to create one of Capucci's works -- "a long time", Minio stresses. It took five people working at Capucci's atelier for five months to execute the Lisbon Expo sculpture. Asked if anyone else made art like this, Capucci and Minio shake their heads, "No, not in this fashion, not in this way. Sculptures like these, they are unique." As the star of the show loped off to cut the ribbon and inaugurate the exhibition, Minio mused almost abstractly, "It's a strange trade -- it really has no market."
"When they proposed this kind of exhibition, I was a little bit reluctant," El-Shoubashy, who heads the Egyptian side of the Egypt-Italy Year, divulges. "I wasn't very sure people would like it. But when I saw the pictures and understood what it was about, I found that it was quite an original thing and that people would really like it. People who like culture will like it and people who like fashion design will also be interested."
The first endeavour of its kind for Italy, the Egypt-Italy Year is based mostly on cultural dialogue, focussing on theatrical and musical performances as well as publications aimed at affirming the two countries' historical relations. Ambassador Badini is enthusiastic, proclaiming that the "cultural exchange" generated by the project should not be read simply in the "classical" way, but rather implies an "opening" of each culture towards the other -- "better knowledge of each other, more respect, mutual influence in our style, in our way of thinking, in our arts", he says.
"We try to use culture as a way of understanding one another and to think about our ways of life -- our rules, your rules -- to see if we can combine our mutual heritage," he asserts, eyeing the line of dresses perched on square blocks in the hall. At this moment it is hard to see how such haute couture sculptures will foster economic growth and mutual social understanding in the region. Then again, it is the little things that bring people together. More than anything, the exhibition offers a taste of something out of the ordinary. There is certainly much to be said for opening one's mind.
"We think that what unites the two shores of the Mediterranean is much more than what differentiates them," Badini adds. "When there is a difference, that difference should be accepted as part of our cultural richness. We can learn from one another. We have to be ready to learn from you, and you have to be ready to learn from us."
As the violins played, I asked Minio what one of Capucci's dresses would cost a buyer. Laughing, he seemed to have never thought about actually selling the pieces. "I don't know, it's priceless," he remarked. "We never even attempted to set a price."
