To close her work week, Queen Máxima of the Netherlands made the two and a half hour trip from The Hague to Assen to open the exhibition ‘Viva la Frida!-Art and work of Frida Kahlo,’ which will be open to the public at the Drents Museum from 8 October 2021 to 27 March 2022.
Before receiving a tour of the exhibition on its opening day, on Friday, 8 October, Queen Máxima sat down for an event on inspiration and inclusivity hosted by the museum, that has seen a fashion show from designer Sergio Cruz, whose collection was inspired by Kahlo, a performance by breakdancers Redouan Ait Chitt and Joris Linssen & Caramba, as well as a conference with Dolores Olmedo Museum Director and the Ambassador of Mexico to the Netherlands.
Following the event, Her Majesty got to tour the exhibition after receiving the show’s catalogue from the hands of the General Director of the Drents Museum. The collection features some of Kahlo’s paintings and some of her personal objects, like jewellery and clothing.
Viva la Frida! represents the first instance in which the two main collections of Frida Kahlo’s belongings and art pieces are brought together. Some of the featured objects come from the Dolores Olmedo Museum, and some from the Frida Kahlo Museum hosted in the Blue House. Dolores Olmedo (1908-2002) was a friend of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, and, following the death of the latter in 1957, she inherited his entire fortune. Kahlo had passed away three years earlier, in 1954.
The Blue House was the place where Frida was born and the residence Kahlo and Rivera chose for their married life, when they moved in it in 1940 following the death of both of her parents. It was filled with her works of art, and was opened as a museum to the public in 1958.
Following the tour of the exhibition, Queen Máxima held a meeting with several stakeholders about museum business supports and inclusivity and diversity.
Her Majesty has long been involved in promoting culture in the Netherlands, and this was a golden occasion for the Argentinian-born Queen, since Frida Kahlo is one of the most important artistic voices for Latin America’s cultural environment.
