Opera costumes take centre stage in the V&A’s DIVA exhibition

London’s V&A museum is set to open its latest exhibition this summer. Running from 24 June to 7 April 2024, DIVA will explore the concept of the diva in popular music, on stage in opera and theatre and on screen.

The exhibition will display more than 250 items from the V&A collection as well as bringing together items on loan from museums and organisations across the world, spanning fashion, photography, design, costumes, music, and live performance including a focus on the ‘opera diva’. Included in the 60 looks on display will be costumes worn by legendary American-Greek soprano Maria Callas in her very first and last performances at The Royal Opera House; as Norma in the Covent Garden Opera Company’s 1952 production of Norma and as Tosca in a 1964 production designed for her and directed by Franco Zeffirelli.

Exhibition curator Kate Bailey said: ‘The V&A with its world class collections of art design and performance and its mission to inspire creativity in all its forms is the perfect stage to celebrate the multifaceted Diva. Today the word diva holds a myriad of meanings. At the heart of this exhibition is a story of iconic performers who with creativity, courage and ambition have challenged the status quo and used their voice and their art to redefine and reclaim the diva.’

Alongside Callas’ costumes, visitors to the exhibition will also see the custom red satin dress made in 2012 by British designer Vivienne Westwood for America soprano Joyce DiDonato as well as the bejewelled chiffon dress and turban worn by Jessye Norman as Ariadne in The Royal Opera House’s 1985 production of Ariadne auf Naxos.

The exhibition will also showcase posters and song sheets as well as items connected to opera divas including early Parisian couture worn by successful 19th-century Italian opera singer Adelina Patti and a jewellery box presented to ‘Swedish Nightingale’ Jenny Lind after an 1848 charity concert in aid of the Queen's College Hospital in Birmingham. DIVA will explore these performers’ role in society and how they have driven change through their work, gaining celebrity and wealth at a time when most women were unable to pursue a career.

DIVA will run from 24 June 2023 to 7 April 2024 at the V&A in London’s Cromwell Road. Tickets, which range from £13 to £20 can be found here.