Inside The V&A’s Spectacular Diva Exhibition

“The divas included in the show, each one is a trailblazer,” says curator Kate Bailey of the legendary performers whose power and creativity are celebrated in the Victoria and Albert Museum’s major exhibition opening of the year, DIVA. Spanning two centuries across three acts, the lineup brings together Marilyn Monroe and Maria Callas, Shirley Bassey and Billie Eilish, Cher and Rihanna, and Tina Turner and Elton John in an extraordinary exploration of what it means to be a diva. “Seeing them all together is like the most amazing party,” says Bailey.

A reckoning with and reclaiming of the term starts by revisiting its roots. “[We had to] think about this word, ‘diva’, which is so omnipresent, and how and why it became negative when it started as a statement of creative power,” Bailey explains. She traces its Latin origins and reveals how ‘diva’ was once used to describe great, early opera singers. “Then, [over] the course of the 19th century, as opera travels – and [these singers’] image and status travels – so does the term,” says Bailey. “You start to see the negative [connotations] creeping in, where diva behavior is often described.”

Act One gives the historical landscape, taking the audience from the 1830s to the 1960s, examining social and political movements, and how these eminent figures both drove them and were impacted by them, the significant influence they had during their own era and on the present day. “We move through the 19th century, and we start to see the first waves of feminism and the way the term changes within this sociopolitical context.” Bailey cites the early opera star Adelina Patti: “She had her own driver, she could commission the same couture dresses that royalty wore, and she commissioned her own portraits. But she didn’t have the vote.”

Act Two brings the concept of the diva into today, applauding “extraordinary, exceptionally talented artists who are creating work in 360 [degrees], at the top of a hierarchical structure – and [who are] divinely worshipped for it,” Bailey reveals. It also examines the cult of celebrity, and the struggle between public and private. Evident through both acts is the barrier-breaking, zeitgeist-shaping nature of the diva: “This sense of empowerment, this sense [that] they can use that arena, their voice and their platform to make a difference.

“Right back to the 19th century, these professions enabled a certain amount of freedom, ahead of a lot of women in society,” Bailey continues. “There were the actresses [who] had a franchise league campaigning for women’s suffrage. The likes of Ellen Terry and Sarah Bernhardt [in the Victorian era] were driving things forward for women. Isadora Duncan had her dance school, where she wanted to empower women through the expression of their bodies. In the silent-movie world, Mary Pickford was setting up an independent production company. And Josephine Baker’s work with the French Resistance, and then her championing of the civil rights movement, which I found she was doing in the ’50s, even before the rallies of the ’60s; she was there, speaking with Martin Luther King. Dolly Parton and Barbra Streisand [representing change for women] in the ’60s. And these days, whether it’s Lady Gaga championing LGBTQIA rights or Elton John with his Foundation, each of them takes on that position of power and responsibility.” Raising up divas as forces for change across their eras and beyond, the exhibition charts the ways these individuals have driven progress for sexual liberation, equal rights for gender, race and sexuality, and challenged industry and societal norms.