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- "Frida" a play by Paõla Duniaud at the Manufacture des Abbesses in Paris until Nov 30, 2024
"Frida" a play by Paõla Duniaud at the Manufacture des Abbesses in Paris until Nov 30, 2024
09 October 2024
Paõla Duniaud takes the viewer in 1960, at the nascent stages of feminism, discussing the avant-garde opinions of Frida Kahlo on a variety of topics, including sexuality and self-acceptance.
The play traces the vibrant life of Frida distinguished by her provocative and radical art, her political commitment to communism, her free spirit and her epic relationship with the artist Diego Riveira.
A child of the Mexican revolution, she lived through a tumultuous and exciting period of history, as well as personal tragedy. She was in a serious bus accident at the age of 19 and could have lost her life.
This text tells her personal story, but also the story of a woman of her time, which clearly resonates with our own times: her relationship with deconstructed love, her bisexuality, her independence as a woman in a man's world and, above all, her strength.
Frida, with her open-mindedness and freedom, shaped an indelible image and left her legacy to all future generations. Her raw ambition and charisma can be seen in the intensity of her eyes.
From the Manufacture des Abbesses website:
" Frida Kahlo became a veritable muse against her will. Beyond her works of art, her face is familiar to everyone and she has become a worldwide inspiration in the world of fashion too. She's on our fridges, on the plant pot in our living rooms, on our teacups, on our shopping bags and even in our children's toy boxes since a doll in her likeness was marketed by Mattel. In short, Frida Kahlo is no longer ‘just’ a painter, she is a veritable icon.
A modern, self-taught and committed painter? In reality, Frida's style is virtually unclassifiable, even if some artists try to pigeonhole her (Surrealist, Modernist)... The artist's style is in fact heterogeneous, meaning that it is made up of several different styles, blended together, producing a unique, original painting whose strength and grandeur resonate with us. An art accessible to all.
Beyond her artistic talent, it's the different facets of her personality that arouse admiration and adoration for this woman.
To understand this craze, we have to go back to 1960, to the dawn of feminism. At that time, women were rebelling and discovering Frida Kahlo. Her avant-garde approach to sexuality made her a symbol, particularly for the LGBTQ community. It was in the 80s and 90s that she rose to prominence and became what Vanity Fair described as ‘a politically correct heroine for every wounded minority’.
Decades later, Frida continues to exist, inspiring desire and hope as she breaks away from the overly perfect image of the modern woman. In the age of body positivity and all the movements that praise bodies and self-acceptance, Frida Kahlo seems to be the ultimate reference point. However, it was enough for me to ask people from all generations who had nothing but praise for this woman to realise that, apart from her unibrow, most people knew nothing about her."
Text by Paõla Duniaud, scenography by Martin Portais and Paola Duniaud, theatre company "Les Immortels".
