Barbie has arrived in Scotland for a major exhibition celebrating the world's most famous doll. Thousands of fans are expected to visit Kelvingrove Art Gallery after the opening day sold out within hours yesterday.
Exhibition Details
Barbie: The Exhibition traces the evolution of the timeless toy from 1959 to the present day. It follows the blockbuster 2024 movie starring Margot Robbie and Glaswegian Sharon Rooney, which sparked renewed global interest in the doll.
A rare, hand-painted first edition is on display alongside the first black, Hispanic, and Asian versions of Barbie. The exhibition also includes the first Barbie in a wheelchair and sections devoted to Ken.
Curator's Perspective
Senior curator Danielle Thom said: "It's now 67 years since the doll was first introduced in 1959 and the story we're telling here is fundamentally a design story. But Barbie has had an outsized cultural impact and cultural presence, so inevitably Barbie has had an impact on design as well as being shaped by it."
She added: "When we put the exhibition together, what we wanted to do was tell the story of Barbie and the Barbie brand through a design lens. How has the evolution of Barbie in its world kept pace with our own changing society and aesthetics?"
Practical Information
The exhibition, previously on display at the Design Museum in London, runs until 18 October at Kelvingrove Art Gallery.
