She’s worn everything from a ball gown to a lab coat. She’s been an astronaut, a surgeon, a president and — of course — a fashion icon. And now, Barbie is rolling into the New York State Museum in a big (hot pink) way.
The museum’s newest exhibition, “Barbie: A Cultural Icon,” opens to the public this weekend. The show dives into the world of Barbie from her 1959 debut to her 2020s glow-up, tracing how a single 11.5-inch doll became a global mirror of culture, careers, style and imagination.
The majority of the collection on display comes from one person, said Jennifer Saunders, the museum’s director. Saunders started in this role in September and has talked about museum renewal, as well as finding ways to have the museum — which has been under scrutiny over the past decade for its lack of updates — better serve the community. This is the first traveling exhibit to come to the museum under her guidance. But, she said, traveling or pop-up exhibits should be a regular part of the cultural space moving forward…