DOHA: The “Prada Oasis and Damien Hirst’s Pharmacy Juice Bar” opened in MIA Park yesterday in conjunction with “Relics”, a major retrospective of the British artist’s work which runs in Al Riwaq Doha until January 22, 2014.
Conceived in a collaborative effort among Damien Hirst, Miuccia Prada and H E Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad Al Thani, Chairperson of Qatar Museums Authority (QMA), the installation, inspired by a traditional Arab encampment, will be open until November 13.
“Damien Hirst’s Pharmacy Juice Bar” is a reinterpretation of his famous “Pharmacy Restaurant”, designed by the artist in London in 1998. The installation draws upon the traditions of a Bedouin tent, but reinterpreting it in the style of a modern day pharmacy.
The “Prada Oasis” interior is an original revisitation of the brand’s stores featuring a display of “Entomology”, a limited-production range of bags designed by Miuccia Prada and Damien Hirst.
The “Entomology” range takes one of the most iconic shapes of Prada’s production and cross-fertilises it with Damien Hirst’s provocative iconography.
Made in a limited production of twenty pieces, the bags will be sold through a silent auction until November 13 at the “Prada Oasis and Damien Hirst’s Pharmacy Juice Bar”. Proceeds from the sale of the “Entomology” bags will be donated to Reach Out to Asia.
Made in nine different colours, the bag is a clear Plexiglas shell in which are immersed a variety of insects chosen by Hirst: Campanotus giganteum, Nephile pilipes, Prosopocoilus occipitalis, Eupholus cuvieri, Pachyrhyncus orbifer. Embellished with a one-micron gold-plated rigid frame; insect-shaped embroidery in sequins, crystals and feathers; and details in three different colours, each bag is named for a different insect species. This is a further tribute the artist pays to the animal world, which is an endless source of inspiration and the ideal artistic medium for his exploration of the passions and fears of human beings.
The Peninsula
