Milan, November 29, 2021 — On 3 and 4 of December, Prada will present the sixth iteration of Prada Mode at the Levenson Mansion in Moscow featuring an installation by artist Damien Hirst. A traveling social club with a focus on contemporary culture, Prada Mode provides members with a unique art experience along with music, dining, and conversations.

For Prada Mode Moscow, Damien Hirst will transform the historic building with his installation, Pharmacy. Hirst created Pharmacy restaurant in Notting Hill, London in 1998, six years after the inaugural installation of the same name at the Cohen Gallery New York. Pharmacy was conceived as a fully functioning restaurant and bar in an installation of Hirst’s floor-to-ceiling medicine cabinets, and specially made butterfly paintings. Hirst designed furniture, architectural details such as a huge molecular model in its window, light boxes, and a wallpaper design taken from a catalogue of prescription medicine.

In Moscow, Hirst will present the third iteration of Pharmacy restaurant, the second being installed at his Newport Street Gallery, London. It is fitting for this to be made especially for Prada Mode: the artist’s long-time friend Miuccia Prada designed the staff uniforms for the original restaurant. “I’m so excited to be invited by Miuccia to recreate Pharmacy for Prada Mode in Moscow,” said the artist. “I’m pulling out all of the stops to make this amazing, and the four floors of the historic Levenson building will provide the perfect place for it. I can’t wait to get going! I’ve always thought great restaurants can be art, and Pharmacy is a living breathing artwork, best filled with people and art as one.”

The Levenson Mansion is a private residence on Moscow’s Patriarch Ponds. The Art Nouveau landmark was designed by architect Fyodor Shechtel in 1900 for the A.A. Levenson Skoroprinting Company, an official purveyor of his majesty Emperor Nicholas II’s Imperial Court.

Prada Mode Moscow will welcome members to access the club at any time over the course of the two-day project to participate in morning and afternoon panels and discussions. The first of these, on the afternoon of the 3^rd of December, will be “The Great ‘Comebacks’: How Do Cycles in Contemporary Culture Function?” with Katya Inozemtseva, Ekaterina Pavelko and Kirill Serebrennikov, moderated by Daria Veledeeva, Chief Editor of Harper’s Bazaar Russia. This talk will examine the reversion of images and aesthetic phenomena of the past and their modern “reuse.” On the 4^th of December guests are invited to two discussions, the morning talk “Art on Paper” will feature Valeria Rodnyansky, Alexandra Paperno and Alexey Novoselov, and will be moderated by Sergey Gushchin, founder of the Fragment gallery of contemporary art. The speakers will examine “art on paper” as an artistic phenomenon, as well as modern approaches to its exhibiting, critical reflection and collecting. That afternoon, guests are invited to an afternoon talk, “Sustainability and Modern City” with Anton Belov, Sergey Kapkov and Alexandra Chechetkina, moderated by Anna Trapkova, director of the Museum of Moscow. This third and final talk will explore the search for possible scenarios for the development of Russian urbanism and architecture in the context of world practices and modern challenges. Each daily program is followed by nightly events, sampling specialty cocktails and dining throughout.

Pharmacy installation will then open to the public from December 5^th to 11^th 2021.

ABOUT PRADA MODE

Prada Mode – a natural evolution of the iconic Prada Double Club by artist Carsten Höller (London 2008/2009; Miami 2017) - is a travelling private club that provides members a unique experience with a focus on contemporary culture. Imagined as a place that augments and extends significant global cultural gatherings at diverse locations worldwide, Prada Mode offers guests exclusive access to unique programs and content that complement the themes and subjects of the host event. In advance of the event, Prada Mode members receive credentials and special invitations for all current and future occurrences of the club.

The inaugural iteration, Prada Mode Miami, was held at Freehand Miami from December 4^th to 6^th, 2018, and served as both an exclusive destination and a discreet, elegant retreat from the daily clamor of high-intensity cultural engagements during Art Basel: Miami Beach. A site-specific intervention by artist Theaster Gates was present throughout the club imbued with the experience of music, retreat and archival practice.

On the occasion of Art Basel: Hong Kong, Prada Mode Hong Kong took over the third floor of the Barrack Block of Tai Kwun on March 27^th and 28^th, 2019. Events included a special set up of the Prada Invites project and Dolls’ House, an installation by photographer Jamie Diamond, as well as conversations on actual themes.

The club’s third iteration, Prada Mode London, occupied 180 The Strand, the iconic Brutalist building in the heart of the city for October 2^nd and 3^rd, 2019. The dynamic program included a new installment of Theater Gates’ Black Image Corporation, and the launch of Collective Intimacy, a live programme of performances and talks created in collaboration with The Vinyl Factory and The Showroom, London.

Prada Mode Paris was held at Maxim’s in Paris on January 19^th and 20^th, 2020, to align with the opening of Paris Haute Couture. The legendary 1893 Belle Époque restaurant was transformed by AI researcher and professor Kate Crawford and artist and researcher Trevor Paglen into an installation titled “Making Faces,” which included art projects and architectural modifications focusing on data gathering, surveillance and facial recognition.

Most recently, Prada Mode Shanghai was held at Prada Rong Zhai, the historic villa in the heart of Shanghai, from August 31^st to September 1^st, 2020. Renowned director, producer, and writer Jia Zhang-Ke transformed the villa into MIÀN, a site a site-specific intervention inspired by the director’s cinematic work. The intervention was divided into three chapters that together “reflect[ed] the diverse faces of the world...to present human dignity which is called ‘tǐ miàn’ in Chinese.”