Púbol, 5th October, 2024
From now until 6th January, 2025, you can visit the third and final season of the exhibition The Awakening of the Myth: Gala Dalí at the Gala Dalí Castle in Púbol, a result of the collaboration between the Dalí Foundation and La Roca Village. With this third chapter, titled “Autumn-Winter Collection”, the journey through the identity of Gala Dalí comes to an end. She is presented as a modern and cultured woman, free from constraints, powerful, creative, and confident in the image she wants to project, which she expresses through fashion. This exhibition is the most special one because most of the pieces have never been exhibited before. In this final chapter, the 8 outfits tell the story of Gala's life journey and her eclectic and daring style, adhering to the dictates of fashion while also remaining open to experimenting with her own image.
The collaborative project between the Dalí Foundation and La Roca Village was born out of the desire to rediscover Gala's legacy and reinterpret it through the creations of contemporary talents such as painter Carla Fuentes and photographer Jordi Bernadó. At the Púbol Castle, six photographs by Bernadó can be appreciated. His proposal is to place Gala's dresses in various spaces of the Castle, thus evoking the presence of its owner. Fuentes' contribution is found on the facades of the Village, where the young artist offers a fresh and contemporary view of Gala.
In shaping Gala's media image, fashion becomes the most legitimate creative language, as it is the only one that depends solely on her. Here, there are no intermediaries like in painting, photography, or poetry. It is Gala herself who decides what to wear, when, and with what intention. She chooses the role she wants to play alongside the artist and selects the outfit that will fulfil the goal. Over the years, her persona gains new nuances, becoming richer and more complex. Nomadism and change define Gala's way of understanding life (and thus fashion), in this constant back-and-forth between Paris and Cadaqués, between New York and Italy.
The first trip to New York, in November 1934, marked the beginning of the conquest of America. For decades, every winter, her room at the St. Regis Hotel was her home and showroom. Beyond museums, her life transformed into happenings, performances, and advertisements. A strategy that Gala adapted to her public image, with designs by Arthur Falkenstein, an American label favoured by the artistic circle, or Howard Greer, designer of Hollywood's golden age. But not all the dresses worn by Dalí and Gala were by foreign designers. Both were regular clients of Dique Flotante and brought their pieces beyond their borders. The design by Michel Goma for Lanvin, part of the 1970 autumn-winter haute couture collection, perfectly illustrates Gala's inclination towards bohemian and hippy fashion in the later years of her life. A style that resonates well with the non-conventional, creative, and free woman she was, always in search of cultural and spiritual experiences beyond the established norms.
On this web section, you can explore the texts by the exhibition curators, Noelia Collado and Bea Crespo, under the artistic direction of Montse Aguer. Additionally, 3D models of the dresses have been created, allowing viewers to see them in their full volume and from different perspectives. The models have been created by Tururut.
