TIM WALKER’S 2018 PIRELLI CALENDAR PRESENTED IN NEW YORK
This year’s Pirelli 2018 calendar brings together Whoopi Goldberg, Sean “Diddy” Combs, and Naomi Campbell, around the famous photographer Tim Walker, known for his surrealist stagings.
With this 45th edition, produced last May in London, the British photographer offers his very personal style, with unusual settings and romantic motifs to “revisit” one of the greatest classics of Anglo-Saxon literature: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Tim Walker’s pictorial narrative is inspired not only by Lewis Carroll’s fantastic story, but also – and above all – by the illustrations commissioned by the writer from John Tenniel when the first edition of the work was published in 1865, and which, in the 2018 Pirelli Calendar, are echoed by the 28 shots and 20 different scenes of an extraordinary new Wonderland.
“The story of Alice – Walker tells us – has already been told thousands of times, and I wanted to go to the source of Lewis Carroll’s imagination in order to tell it again, but this time from its origin. I wanted to offer a different and original point of view”.
To give his own interpretation of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Walker wanted a cast of 18 personalities, some already well-known, others on the way to becoming so, including musicians, actors, models and political activists. They include Australian-Sudanese supermodel Adut Akech, British-Ghanaian model and committed feminist Adwoa Aboah, Senegalese-German Alpha Dia, American-Beninese actor and model Djimon Hounsou, Australian-Sudanese model Duckie Thot, Gambian-born women’s rights activist Jaha Dukureh; and then there’s British model King Owusu, American rapper and singer Lil Yachty, Mexican-Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong’o, British supermodel and actress Naomi Campbell, actress, TV star and songwriter RuPaul, American actress Sasha Lane, another rapper, who is also a singer, comedian, record producer and businessman Sean “Diddy” Combs, American model Slick Woods, South African model and lawyer Thando Hopa, comic actress, author and TV host Whoopi Goldberg, British model Wilson Oryema and, last but not least, British stylist, designer and singer Zoe Bedeaux. This all-black cast is reminiscent of the 1987 edition, when British photographer Terence Donovan immortalized five magnificent women, including the very young Naomi Campbell (she was just 16) and model, writer and activist Waries Dirie.
To create his Calendar – following on from last year’s by Peter Lindberg – Walker also wanted to surround himself with two other leading artists: Shona Heath, one of Britain’s leading creative directors and scenographers, and fashion icon Edward Enninful, who designed the magnificent, sophisticated costumes for this edition. Shona Heath was responsible for the extraordinary staging and installations that enabled the creative storytelling of this version of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Elements of the story that have become part of the collective imagination have been turned on their head here: for example, White Rabbit becomes…black, while the Queen of Hearts’ red roses are painted black by the Playing Cards. “I tried to find even more things to shake up, to question the meaning of the story and its most striking moments, to diversify them as much as possible. But in reality, our message remains very clear and deeply faithful to the original story”, adds Shona Heath. Commenting on her collaboration on this year’s Calendar, Enninful observes: “It’s very important to tell the Alice story to new generations. Her Adventures in Wonderland echoes the world we live in, the obstacles we face and the idea of celebrating diversity. Growing up in London, I often found myself in a fantasy world of legends and mysteries. Alice has always been one of my favorite characters. I always felt at her side throughout her journey through Wonderland, and all the extraordinary characters who populate it have become friends to me…well, almost all of them, because the horrible Queen and her tormentors aren’t really. Seeing Alice black today helps children of all races to become familiar with the idea of diversity from an early age, and to understand that beauty comes in all colors. We live in a culturally disparate world. Projects like this extraordinary Pirelli Calendar are proof that there is still hope in a reality that sometimes seems increasingly cynical.” For Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, Professor of English Literature at Oxford University and Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, author of an essay entitled Being Alice (appended to this press kit), “Tim Walker’s refusal to reduce Wonderland to relics of Victorian kitsch is interesting”. In his book, Fairhurst points out that “even if the name ‘Wonderland’ seems to indicate a magical, carefree place, it is often the fear aroused by certain passages in the tale that impresses young readers approaching it for the first time. Even Alice feels threatened by her own dream. Almost every creature she encounters turns out to be more fierce than affectionate.” “But of course, at the heart of the Calendar are Alice’s photographs. Alice again. Here, she’s no longer a child, and she’s played by a supernaturally beautiful model (Duckie Thot) whose personal story – her Sudanese parents found refuge in Australia – makes her the perfect modern incarnation of Carroll’s troubled, uprooted heroine. At the same time, the entire Pirelli Calendar perfectly demonstrates that Lewis Carroll’s story remains a work in progress. Which just goes to show that Wonderland never stops evolving.” In addition to photos taken in the studio and during shoots, anecdotes and and stories from the characters in the 2018 Pirelli Calendar, visitors to www.pirellicalendar.com will be able to discover the 50+ year history of The Cal through previously unpublished videos, interviews, snapshots and texts.
Go to
www.pirellicalendar.com
to access exclusive content on the new edition of The Cal™
Cette publication est également disponible en :
