Beyond Ceilings and Boxes: Miu Miu and Art Basel’s Bold Fusion of Fashion, Film, and Art
Art Basel’s multi-media event at the iconic Palais d’Iéna was anything but conventional. A mesmerizing fusion of commissioned short films, provocative panel discussions, and surreal performance art filled the venue, all masterminded by Goshka Macuga and Elvira Dyangani Ose. This project boldly blurred the boundaries between art, fashion, and cinema, spotlighting the work of women creators often sidelined in these fields. In partnership with Miu Miu, the event offered a rare space where female voices could thrive, freed from the constraints that usually police creative expression, and urged audiences to rethink who gets to tell stories—and how they’re told. MERDE’s newest Paris-based editor Sica Thai attended the event, lending her perspective to one of its most striking moments.
One of the event’s most compelling moments was a candid conversation between filmmakers Haifaa Al-Mansour, Massy Tadjedin, and Isabel Sandoval, moderated by Dyangani Ose. The women pulled no punches, recounting their experiences of navigating a film industry designed to keep them on the margins. Their stories underscored the exhausting need to constantly overperform just to prove their legitimacy, knowing that every misstep could confirm preconceived notions about their competence. The discussion also delved into the pressures of balancing radical artistic ambition with the demands of more conservative cultural norms in their home countries. Critics, too, came under fire—those gatekeepers eager to tear down anyone who doesn’t conform to mainstream aesthetics or narratives. Yet, despite these barriers, the filmmakers celebrated the power of sisterhood, emphasizing that connecting with other women who’ve fought similar battles becomes an act of defiance in itself.
The conversation struck a deeper chord, calling out the absurdity of “glass ceilings” in creative industries where artists are, in theory, meant to be liberated by self-expression. How, they asked, does an industry devoted to boundary-pushing remain so entrenched in outdated hierarchies? The same paradox looms over fashion, where the most coveted houses—long regarded as spaces for unfiltered creativity—are overwhelmingly controlled by male designers. Against this backdrop, Miuccia Prada stands as a rare exception, holding the reins at both Miu Miu and Prada. This undercurrent of defiance extended into the immersive performances that animated the event space, with actors embodying archetypal characters like “The Mother” and “The Remedy” within imaginary boxes. Clad head-to-toe in Miu Miu, these characters cycled through repetitive routines, breaking the fourth wall only to occasionally engage with each other, as if to question the constraints imposed on them. This blend of performance, film, and art challenged the audience to reflect on the invisible structures shaping not just fashion and film but all creative fields—and to question why, in a world built on the pursuit of freedom, artists must still fight to be seen and heard.
