Almost 100 years ago to the day – November 8th 1925 –  the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts ( or in its original French “Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes) closed in Paris. The fair, showcasing over 15,000 exhibitors of ground breaking designs by both established artists and emerging visionaries, gave birth to the movement forever after known as Art Deco. Over 16 million people attended and justified, in their enthusiasm, the aim of the French government to highlight a new streamlined style of architecture and interiors. Furniture, textiles, glassware, ceramics and jewellery were among the many areas showcasing this emerging simple modernism of geometric lines.  An economic while still sumptuous language of beauty based on the mechanism of the machine ushered out the superfluous, floral, natural based adornments of the Art Nouveau. A new Jazz Age style was born defining an era of speed and progress.

V and A lecturer Anne Haworth will guide us on this celebratory centenary look back at an era that defined everything from the skyscraper to the teapot. Please join us for what promises to be a wonderful tribute to all things Art Deco.