"Le dieu bleu" - set design 1912

Editor: Here we have Léon Bakst’s stage design, "Le dieu bleu," created around 1912, employing tempera on, perhaps, a mural-sized scale. The overall feeling is incredibly theatrical and otherworldly, almost dreamlike. How do you interpret this work, given its historical context? Curator: Considering Bakst’s "Le dieu bleu," we should first look to the Ballets Russes and its fascination with exoticism. These orientalist fantasies were potent vehicles for exploring themes of desire and transgression while sidestepping social constraints back home. Where do you see the intersectional narratives emerging? Editor: I see a deliberate, and probably problematic, romanticization of the "East." The stage design reinforces this through imagined landscapes and presumably costumed figures – creating a very one-sided dialogue, that perpetuates power dynamics. Curator: Precisely. It’s crucial to unpack how European artistic movements, like Symbolism and the early stirrings of Expressionism present here, engage with non-Western cultures. How does the staging contribute to that narrative? Does it give a voice, or does it colonize and repackage? Consider its visual language. How does it position viewers, performers, and this constructed idea of the East in relation to one another? Editor: It seems as if the visual elements—the landscape, costumes, and characters—all perform in a grand, potentially harmful, spectacle, reflecting, but also influencing public perception. The artist makes use of exotic tropes to speak about otherness, through an European artistic lens. Curator: Absolutely. Examining "Le dieu bleu" calls us to scrutinize the legacy of cultural appropriation. And, while we cannot erase history, engaging in dialogue about the work will push us to examine our responsibilities in the context of today's discourse. Editor: This sheds a new light on set designs! Thank you for opening my eyes.