october 6, 2004 - february 20, 2005
scenography : christian rizzo
lighting : caty olive
music : gerome nox
From 6 October 2004 to 20 February 2005, the Musee de la Mode et du Textile (Fashion and Textiles Museum) paid tribute to handbags in all their diverse forms.
Designed and produced with Hermes, Le Cas du Sac was a first-of-a-kind exhibition about handbags, with more than 400 of them on display to give an overview of their history throughout many centuries and continents.
The show classified bags by their domestic, professional and travel functions rather than through a chronological timeline. The scenography was designed by Christian Rizzo, with his longstanding artistic partners Caty Olive and Gereme Nox.
In setting up the show he focused on the question ëwhat is a handbag?' " ëëfrom the inside (hidden part) and from the outside.
I started with the idea that a museum becomes itself a container in which other containers are displayed."
"Christian Rizzo's scenography gets the bags moving.
The soundscape by Gerome Nox whispers what could be put into them.
Caty Olive's lighting redirects and highlights them in the manner of a chase scene. It's almost more like a performance than an exhibition, or perhaps a journey inside what it is to be a handbag, with plum-coloured cases " evoking satin lining " behind the displays leading you from one world to another.
The objects evoke a variety of things to different visitors, creating a unique journey arising from each person's own imagination."
"Le Cas du Sac", Upstreet, January 2005