Altered Beauty – with Viktoria Modesta
24 September 2016 | Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK
Fireside chat with Viktoria Modesta (Bionic Multimedia Artist) on modern identity, tech fashion and science innovation.
Viktoria Modesta (Director’s Fellow at MIT Media Lab) is a performance artist, model, and bionic woman. As a child in Latvia during the end of the Cold War, she endured numerous failed procedures to correct a dislocated left leg and hip from which she’d suffered since birth. At the age of 20, Modesta underwent voluntary surgery to amputate her leg below the knee. With the aid of advanced prosthetics, Modesta returned to her fledgling career in fashion and music, turning her disability into a personal symbol and challenging society’s modern perception of physical beauty. She picked up her music school roots shortly after the operation and has continuously worked on creating her sound with performances at international fashion and club events.
She works with forward-thinking prosthetic designers at the Alternative Limb Project together with leading prosthetists at Ability Matters to push the envelope of art, fashion, and utility. Her performance at the 2012 Paralympic Closing Ceremonies made her an icon for challenging the views of disability and sexuality.
In partnership with the Victoria & Albert Museum’s Digital Design Weekend. A weekend of free events exploring engineering, making and collaboration, coinciding with the London Design Festival at the V&A.
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