Veuve Clicquot worked with artists to celebrate the creative history of its brand in its latest experience, called "Rebels".
Last week's six-room activation at Bargehouse, London, featured a sequence of art installations that embraced all disciplines, showcasing work from artists such as Young Fathers, Warren Du Preez & Nick Thornton Jones and James Lavelle.
Tom Hingston curated the exhibition. He explained that each room "drew on the example of Madame Clicquot in challenging convention and conformity, drawing parallels with radical social movements from punk to sound systems to rave".
Framed as a metaphorical nightclub, "Rebels" embraces music, fashion, film and installation to tell the story of the British creative revolution. It is the fourth edition in the brand’s Widow Series that celebrates its founder, Madame Clicquot. Born Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin in 1777, she became known as "Veuve" – French for widow – after the death of her husband, François Clicquot.
Hingston said: "Using the ‘club’ as a device gives us a contemporary framework to tell the Clicquot story, without it feeling like a history lesson. It also serves as a powerful reminder of how defining some of these moments in British culture were, moments that initially shocked but were then imitated the world over.
"That's exactly why the concept resonates with everybody, because we each have our own personal experiences of night culture and its egalitarian environment – the club, the gathering, the festival. We also recognise the role that those individual scenes have played in influencing some of the most exciting output from this country – be it in music, film, fashion or art."
Julie Nollet, marketing and communications director at Moët Hennessy UK, explained that the brand wanted to target a greater number of people this year and help audiences understand Veuve Clicquot’s creative side.
She said: "We’re wanting the creative community that are really enthused by innovation and non-conformism to actually be part of the story and this year's edition. So the type of person that we're targeting is curious – people that love innovation and to be surprised.
"There's the obvious experience for a brand like ours, which is tasting the brand, and we're trying to go beyond that. Madame Clicquot had a vision and a personality, and we feel that in order for this to come to life we have to step beyond our actual product. We feel that the experience is even stronger if we welcome [creatives and artists] to express what Veuve Clicquot is all about."