Cold War

Art and Design in a Divided World 1945-1975

The “Cold war”, the iron curtain, the tensions between the “Atlantic alliance” and the countries within the Soviet bloc today seem like episodes from long ago, but in reality they were a major part of 20th-century history, from the post-war years of the 1970s onwards and, above all, they inspired and animated manifestations of artistic creation.

“The Cold War. Art and design in the divided world 1945 – 1970”, curated by Jane Pavitt and David Crowley and produced the Victoria & Albert Museum of London in collaboration with Mart, represents the important exhibition to reconstruct the climate of a crucial period for society, politics and culture worldwide through art, design, architecture, cinema and the visual arts.

The exhibition presents over 250 objects: from a Sputnik to the space-suit of an astronaut from an “Apollo” mission, from the films to Stanley Kubrick to the paintings of Robert Rauschenberg, and from the ceramics of Pablo Picasso to the clothes designed by Paco Rabanne. There will also be such fascinating articles as the fibreglass furniture of Charles and Ray Eames and the T1000 radio manufactured by Braun and designed by Dieter Rams.

It will also be possible to admire the architectural sketches of Le Corbusier, Richard Buckminster Fuller and Archigram, and the new forms of post-war transport, such as the P70 Coupé (a precursor of the plastic Trabant), the tiny Kabinenroller by Messerschmitt and the Vespa moped.