A new exhibition at the V&A Museum called ‘Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up’ will be the first time the Mexican artist’s clothing, jewelry and make up will be displayed outside of her home country. The mission behind the exhibition will showcase the ways Kahlo constructed her identity through the 200 items on show.

The exhibition draws inspiration from a previous exhibition at the Blue House in Mexico and will depict her life story by loosely following the timeline of the artists personal and professional development. The first exhibition dedicated to Kahlo’s appearance was called ‘Appearances Can Be Deceiving: The Dresses Of Frida Kahlo’ which displayed the artists clothing as well as her prosthetics.

“We gave it a different title, 'Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up', but the themes of both shows are about the way Frida constructed her identity,” Claire Wilcox, curator of the exhibition said. She continues: “We have been able to bring a larger group of her clothing, jewelry, prosthetics, and medical gear alongside self-portraits and photographs. We are constructing the picture of Frida’s life – the way she constructed her identity through the actual objects.”