Explore the history and heritage of the Hermès House as The National Museum of Qatar welcomes yet another rendition of the Hermès Heritage exhibition with Harnessing the Roots from 4th March to 1st April. The Hermès Heritage cycle of touring exhibitions explores the story of Hermès from its origins to the present day. The story of Hermès , founded by Thierry Hermès, began in 1837 as a harness-maker and saddler that then evolved into what it is today. And the exhibition takes the spectators on a journey through its origins with a series of objects that highlight iconic themes, colours and motifs from the house.
Harnessing the Roots focuses on harnesses and their metamorphoses. Hermès understands that as lifestyle evolves, so do the desires and needs of their customers. Thus every mechanism, shape, attachment, suspension, or clasp at Hermès, originally conceived for equipping a saddle or harness, is transformed, playing a role in the design of a whole new object. The curator of La Piscine Museum of Art and Industry in Roubaix (France), Bruno Gaudichon has undertaken the curation of the exhibition, along with scenographer Laurence Fontaine to present the creative logic three-dimensionally. Instead of opting for showcasing it in chronological order, they focus on arranging the objects thematically revealing the links and dialogue that have always existed between the objects through a narrative. The five themes of the exhibition are Brides de Gala, The Horse and its Tack, The Saddle, Buckled Up and Ties and Straps.
Three distinct sources are represented in the exhibition: the Émile Hermès collection – a collection of treasures and small curiosities situated at the flagship of Hermès at 24, rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré in Paris (France) – a collection that Émile Hermès acquired throughout his life, the house’s Conservatory of creations, and contemporary fashion, lifestyle, and accessory collections. Correlating these objects for further insight, Hermès presents documentary archives and a 1962 film where Robert Dumas, heir and director of Hermès from 1951 to 1978, explains the art of saddle-making. The fantasy and magic of Hermès are illustrated in these intertwining materials, stories, and techniques.
In 2022, Hermès and NMoQ presented the exhibition Once Upon A Bag inviting spectators to travel back and forth between the past and present to discover bags that are both poetic and functional.
The exhibition, Harnessing the Roots, is an enchanting experience that will take you on a magical journey through one of the prominent fashion house’ history. The museum timings are from 9 am to 7 pm Saturday through Thursday and 1:30 pm to 7 pm on Fridays. Don’t forget to check it out.
