Hello 2016, welcome back to MuseumLifestyle. The holidays are over and the new exhibition year started. There is a lot to see in 2016 and so much more coming up to the blog. Just stay tuned and never miss a post 😉 Today I like to tell you about a wonderful exhibition in Berlin right now. One I am going to see at the last weekend of the month but I just can’t wait. This is something you need to know about if you’ll be there in the next days. “Best Actress” at the Deutsche Kinemathek (Film and TV museum) combines everything I like – Fashion, Movie Stars, Hollywood and Art. This is how you start your museum year if you’re an art or fashion lover.
The exhibition starts with the first Oscar awarding on May 16, 1929. At that day a circle of 270 representatives of the American film industry gathered together in the grand ballroom at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel to award film professionals for “special achievements”. During the mere 15-minute presentation, prizes were awarded in twelve categories, including the award for “Best Actress,” which the 22-year-old Janet Gaynor received for three film roles combined.
No less than 73 actresses have received the golden trophy since then, some even more than once. The exhibition “Best Actress – Oscars®, Roles and Images” is homage to these women who have been honored with an Oscar for their performances as the year’s “Best Actress in a Leading Role.”

Source: Deutsche Kinemathek
The retrospective view of 86 years of “Best Actresses” reveals the constants and transformations in Hollywood’s image of women, in which trends in society as a whole are also mirrored. At the same time the prize represents a clever staging of femininity and its clichés, which manifests itself in the film costumes as well as in the evening gowns designed for the Oscar Night.
When the awards ceremony was first broadcast on television in 1953, a big change came to the whole evening. Leading fashion design labels and cosmetic companies discovered the Oscar Night as an advertising platform, utilizing female nominees as living testimonials. This also had an effect on the public images of the nominees: While many a couture or getup documented bold individuality in the 1970s and 1980s, today it is the complete package and perfectly styled outfit that triumphs.
Lose yourself in the world of big dreams and beautiful women. The history of the world of Hollywood and its illusions are shown in this exhibition which features many of my all-time favorite movie stars like Audrey Hepburn, Vivien Leigh and Meryl Streep. This is clearly a must-see this year.

for „Princess Ann“ in ROMAN HOLIDAY (USA 1953, William Wyler)
Photo: Audrey Hepburn, 1954
Source: Museo Nazionale del Cinema, Turin

Photo: Liza Minnelli in CABARET (USA 1972, Bob Fosse)
Source: Deutsche Kinemathek

for „Sophie“ in SOPHIE’S CHOICE (USA 1982, Alan J. Pakula)
Photo: Peter MacNicol und Meryl Streep
Source: Deutsche Kinemathek
#museum | Deutsche Kinemathek
#exhibition | Best Actress
#until | 1 May 2016