Desires, aspirations, longing for something which is beyond you;
Shortage, lacking, a difference, deification. longing, desiring, imaging…
The stiletto fills the gap between our dreams and reality;
8 centimeters of desire,
20 centimeters of eagerness and fascination
4 cm of longing for more and more
I also want more
To show, to create
So here I am, writing a blog
Words that wrap words, liquefying energy bursting into a flow which flit upon the paper or screen instead of in a gallery and a ‘real’ space
Above: Is this a shoe or a sealed idea of a shoe?
When I first heard about the Cinderella Syndrome exhibition
I held my breath for a second
And then reminded myself to take a good deep breath
“I am not there” shouted a hidden voice in my head
I design for other brands,
I have not yet created my own line of items with a clear statement
But
I’ve this place, here
The blog, into which the energy flows
Energy that might not be channeled into materials, objects, heel heights, leather, glue, feathers and nails, colours and forms
Above: Working into the material, into the leather – “Venus’s Trap” by Shani bar. Material: Nappa leather. Photo by Shai Ben Efraim
The desire to bridge a gap, to reach the un reachable
is found in the story of Yaara Kider, curator of the exhibition,
who hasn’t worn high heels for two years following a glorious and painful fall from high heels
and has hung up her heels and proceeded to celebrate life
in flat shoes
a clear contact with the ground – a sort of truthfulness
stability and comfort
that now guide her feet
But the nature of ideas and desires is not to rest nor to remain silent and the intellectual and creative curatorship of Cinderella Syndrome provided Yaara with the drama and magic she needs just like the air she breathes
Looking for some Drama?
“When I started digging dipper into the story of The Wizard of Oz I realized that Dorothy, who comes across as an innocent girl, launches a killing spree in order to return to her home” says Maya, whom I know from the Trend course I teach at The Guild. “It reminded me of an intriguing yet scary image I once saw by the photographer Brit Bentine. This image had a strong impact on me, and it inspired my work”. Brit Bentine dresses up children as figures in a horror movie, examining the border line between innocence and fear in childhood and life itself.
The interview with Yaara Keidar
Was squeezed into her tight schedule during her visit to Israel
An hour before the opening
Amid a team making last minute arrangements
Yaara, who conducts this dynamic ensemble, finds a few precious moments for our meeting
Shelley: a moment when a stiletto was more than just a shoe, an unforgettable moment?
Yaara: I got married barefooted! I wasn’t comfortable in the stiletto I was wearing, and a few moments before the wedding ceremony I took off my stiletto shoes, to my Mum’s great annoyance!
Shelley: You were ahead of your time, even pre-empting Julia Roberts!:)
Julia Roberts who took off her shoes before stepping onto the red carpet in Cannes, and by doing this expressed her support at the protest against the demand women should wear stiletto shoes – if at work places or at Cannes festival itself.
Shelley: when working on a creative project, there’s a moment when it all “clicks”, a magical moment, of understanding something that couldn’t be understood at the beginning. Did you have such a moment during the work on the exhibition, and if so – what was in this moment?
Yaara: “When I started I didn’t know what topics and content would arise in the exhibition. The application to the designers was very open, I said to them “relate to the subject in any way you want – be critical or not critical, say that stilettos are amazing or alternatively that the end of the world’s approaching – do whatever’s burning inside you”
Some amazing works arrived from Bezalel, Shenkar, from the Guild, that conducted a competition for participating in Cinderella Syndrome
A natural harmony was created, a division into categories and then I understood that there was a basis for the exhibition, a track, and that’s how it was created”.
The division into four topics within the exhibition:
The pink room relates to children’s fairy tales; are the stories really as pleasant as they seem to us?
The green room displays shoes that take the term height to a new level
The white room shows us the artistic aspect of shoes, where does the shoe end and art begin?
And the black room – the fetish room that examines the pain and aggression in shoes
The white room, “Rogatka” by Kobi Levi. Materials: wood and leather. Photo: Ilit Azulai
“La Petite Sirene” by Mor Kfir, relates to the little mermaid fairy tale. The mermaid gave up her voice and tale for love, she loved a prince who did not love her back and didn’t appreciate her natural qualities. The shoe with its sharp fish bones expresses the tragedy of her masochism . Materials: Macarel fish bones, pearls, oysters, fimo, leather. Photo by Arnesto Eisner
Cenerentola Nostra by Allesandrom Brigenti and Tal Arbel for Norman and Bella. Materials: Resin, 3D printing. Photo by Bar Sharir
The Black room, “Dominatrix”, designed by Tali Sorit, Bezalel Academy. Photo by Yoav Zohar
Shelley: did you identify any Israeli characteristics during the curator work, or was the content mainly universal, global?
Yaara: I think that today everyone, that is, everyone who’s connected to popular western culture, has a global perception of high heels
True, in Israel there’s a great fondness for flat shoes, but even so, at most events today, in Israel as well, you can see a significant number of women in high heels.
However, I think that because women tend not to wear these on a day-to-day basis, and our dress culture is a bit more casual, then it’s easier for designers to see this shoe as an object rather than as a clothing item, and to neutralise its comfort and clothing element and concentrate on the artistic aspect that the shoe can express
Above: surrealism at its best. head pieces by Avigail Talmor and Tami Bar-Lev exhibited in “Cinderella Syndrome”, address iconic symbols such as Shciaparelli’s shoe hat and the statue of liberty.
Clockwise from top left: The statue of liberty during its assembly in Paris picture from here; Heed Over Heels by Those Who Pray/Avigail Talmor; Shoe Hat by Elsa Schiaparelli and Salvador Dali, picture from here; Pretty Woman by Tami Bar-Lev.
Me: a stiletto shoe from your private collection that you particularly love
Yaara: Not stiletto but Prada’s 20 cm. platforms from the Japanese collection, 2013. With these, too, I have a love-fear relationship, and right now I don’t dare to go with them, maybe I’ll go back to wearing them in the future.
The eight-minute interview passed in the blink of an eye
The first visitors were starting to arrive. Yaara was busy straightening hidden corners of signs and other details – precision and perfectionism which she says give her great pleasure. Because in shoes, each millimetre counts and the sky’s the limit.
I was left with my thoughts.
What stilettos and high heels have I ever designed?
For further reading I invite you to follow my steps and read about the opening evening of the Cinderella Syndrome.
Cinderella Syndrome will be exhibited until the end of the month in Ha’Hava Gallery in Holon.
I’ll be more than happy to hear you feedback and read your comments, I aldo invite you to tell and share your personal stories about shoes and other memories 🙂
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