In the iconic Mexico City home of artist Frida Kahlo, a brightly colored Mexican skirt is carefully wrapped in specialized tissue paper and gently placed into a padded art crate. This hand-woven garment is then placed in a protective case for its journey to the Bendigo Art Gallery in central Victoria, over 13,000 kilometers away.
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03-10, 2025These items rarely leave Kahlo's home, which is now a museum, let alone Mexico. Any object leaving Kahlo’s home requires permission from the Mexican government, making this exhibition in regional Victoria all the more remarkable. "People will be moved by her clothing," says Lauren Ellis, the gallery's curatorial manager.
"The clothing is as spectacular and colorful as you see in all the images of her online, and they're just beautiful of that time," Ms. Ellis added. The exhibition is expected to bring economic benefits to the region's art gallery, which has attracted over 748,000 visitors and generated over $113 million in economic benefits for the Greater Bendigo region since 2012.
In an age of fast fashion and mass production, preserving Kahlo's work becomes increasingly difficult, as her image can be printed on unofficial tote bags, tea towels, mugs, and posters. However, her clothing and jewelry tell the story of a person who lived in extreme circumstances, and the chance to see them up close is a rare privilege. The exhibits include hand-woven garments, with paint and cigarette burns still visible on the sleeves, as well as medical corsets Kahlo wore after spinal surgery, which she personally painted and decorated while bedridden.
Kahlo's clothing was hidden in the bathroom of her house, now a museum dedicated to her memory, for 50 years, at the request of her husband, muralist Diego Rivera. Rivera stipulated that the clothes be locked away until 15 years after his death. Rivera passed away in 1957, but it was not until 2004 that the Frida Kahlo Museum began cataloging its contents. "Taking care of, disseminating, and sharing Frida Kahlo's legacy is both an honor and a huge responsibility," said Frida Kahlo Museum director, Perla Labarthe Álvarez. Ms. Álvarez added, "The clothes bear traces of her daily life, such as paint stains and cigarette burns. They are old, and some parts look faded." She hopes the upcoming exhibition will give people a deeper understanding of Kahlo's life and her artwork.
The curatorial team at the Bendigo Art Gallery says the exhibition will take visitors beyond the popular culture understanding of Kahlo as an artist. "When you look back at her work and her image, it's actually really interesting that she's so much more than just an artist with a flower garland on her face," Ms. Ellis said. Kahlo suffered from polio as a child and a bus accident at the age of 18, which resulted in three fractures in her spine. Her work mainly consists of self-portraits, celebrating Mexican life, art, and traditions. "She revealed her inner emotional and physical pain in her art," Ms. Ellis said. The Bendigo exhibition will begin on March 15 and run for four months.
