“Orlando in the Present Time”, the main exhibition, focuses on the themes and legacy of Virginia Woolf’s novel, published in 1928. “Orlando: A Biography” was loosely based on the life of her lover and friend Vita Sackville-West; the eponymous protagonist lives for hundreds of years but only ages decades, changes from male to female and has lovers of both genders. It is, according to Jeanette Winterson, a writer, “the first English language trans novel”. But unlike “The Well of Loneliness”, Radcliffe Hall’s banned lesbian novel published in the same year, “Orlando” went on to be a bestseller. Woolf wrote it in a matter of months, after finishing what many consider to be her masterpiece, “To the Lighthouse”.
The exhibition brings together the paintings from Sackville-West’s family home, which Woolf used in her book to illustrate the fictional characters, and modern reinterpretations of Woolf’s work. Sandy Powell’s costumes from a film adaptation (“Orlando”, 1992) starring a gamine Tilda Swinton, are on show, as are a series of moody pictures taken by Annie Leibovitz in 2009 of Monk’s House. Bell’s dinner-plate series, illustrated with scenes from her sister’s novel, are on display. So too are works by Grant which seem to echo themes of the book, such as a “Spanish Dancer costume” from 1936 of a naked female body which he would wear for cabaret-style performances. “I have never seen anything so indecent,” Bell wrote, possibly half-approvingly, to her son Julian.
The most arresting modern pieces are by Zanele Muholi, an artist from South Africa who documents the gay, lesbian and trans community there (and who also has a dedicated exhibition of black-and-white portraits next door). Muholi, who identifies as non-binary, has captured photographs which are striking in their simplicity. Often the same figures recur, in different poses and in different situations. These are works which push at the boundaries of gender, in similar ways to Woolf’s novel, yet are also, unlike the aristocratic Orlando, portraits of the under-represented, the marginalised, the oppressed.
The new gallery spaces will allow more people to visit without damaging the house, which can take around 25,000 visitors a year, says Nathaniel Hepburn, the director. But it is also hoped that these galleries will encourage a “wider demographic” to visit: one beyond those who usually go to stately homes and heritage sites, he says, such as millennials. In order to attract more footfall, alongside the exhibitions a series of events will take place, including a screening of “Orlando”, a nine-hour reading lead by Ms Winterson and a cabaret performance of the book. Next door, a slick restaurant opens up to a lecture hall and an installation space. Olivia Laing, a writer, currently has an audio piece on display.
