By: Alexandra Martinez
Sept. 26, 2013 thanks to the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA). It’s newest exhibition Hippie Chic that opened earlier this summer welcomed back students with vintage Volkswagen (VW) vans, tie-dye, and just glimpses into a time that was. Debuted on July 16, Boston students were invited to a groovy welcome back to the city and university life in celebration of the new exhibit.
Students from as far as the suburbs of Boston came to check out what the exhibit had to offer. Students were given the opportunity to take a photo with the vintage VW vans as well as learn more about tie-dye during a presentation with Charlotte Hamlin, textile professor at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth.
Students were then invited to try out tie-dye for themselves after the presentation. Students were also given access to other galleries and were able to explore the museum outside of the downstairs wing which housed the new exhibit.
The free event included gelato as well, and for an additional $9 students could also watch a film on the time period.
Students were offered an opportunity to explore other corners of the museum, and were able to purchase items to remember the experience. As students walked around, many of them wore clothing that paid respect to the actual exhibit itself, ranging from disco style hippie to just outright hippie in bell bottoms and headbands.
Kate Girouard and Shanni Agagi, freshmen from Boston University were joined by their friends who had heard of the event from their university’s art club.
“I’m in the art history association, they had planned to come but we ended up coming together” said Agagi.
Other students were there to explore the other parts of hippie like the tie dying.
“I saw flyers for the Hippie Chic exhibit and came to see it, but I was very interested in the tie-dying.” said Alexandra Douder, a freshman at Northeastern University.
While others were drawn more for what the idea of hippie stood for, and for the fashion, while some were there for the music as well. One such student was Kárenly Nieves, a Berklee freshman.
“You see this clothing and you see this is what’s going on in trends right now,” said Nieves. “They didn’t care about the boundaries, they didn’t care about the law. They cared about being happy and free, that’s something we should actually embrace.”
The exhibit runs until Nov. 11 and is located in gallery 184, also known as the Lois B. and Michael K. Torf gallery. It is free to all Suffolk students with valid university identification.
