Arts & Life

Science fiction meets fine art at DIA’s Star Wars costume exhibit

Michigan Public | By Stateside Staff,

Published May 29, 2018 at 4:30 PM EDT

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A lot of people may not think of R2D2 as a costume, but there was actually an actor inside of R2D2 who helped him move along in scenes where that was necessary.

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Wilhelm believes the DIA was chosen as the last stop for this exhibit because it was one of the first museums in North American to treat film as its own art form.

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Starting in June, the DIA will also host showings of films that inspired Star Wars creator George Lucas.

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“When they opened the crate for R2D2, I have to confess that even though I’ve never been all that sentimental about the character — I teared up,” Wilhelm said. ";s:3:"u

darth vader sketch and darth vader costume

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1976 Darth Vader concept art from John Mollo (L) and the costume that ended up onscreen in Star Wars™: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. ";

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“There is something spectacular about the various costumes in Star Wars, which becomes apparent the instant you walk into the exhibition or the instant you look at any one of the films,” Wilhelm said. ";s:

When audiences first heard the trumpet fanfare of John Williams's theme for Star Wars, it was a jolt of pure movie magic.

Forty-one years later, the magic is still there, and Star Wars continues to hold a Darth Vader-like grip on our imagination.

The Detroit Institute of Arts is tapping into that magic with its newest exhibit, Star Wars and the Power of Costume.

Elliot Wilhelm is the curator of the exhibition and also the film curator of the Detroit Film Theatre at the DIA.

The exhibit features more than 60 costumes from seven of the Star Wars films. It runs now through September 30th.

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