Anaïs Lellouche is the curator of the world-first exhibition, Victor Hugo: Les Misérables – From Page to Stage, now showing at the State Library of Victoria until Thursday 9 November. Here she talks on what it was like to prepare for the exhibition.

This exhibition began with a research trip to Paris, London and to Hugo’s incredible museum, Hauteville house in Guernsey. Well, my co-curator Tim Fisher and I had to view the material to ensure we brought the best to Melbourne!

Tim spent time in London working with the Cameron Mackintosh Archive, selecting costumes, props, design drawings and performance photos to share for the first time with musical fans.

I worked for five months in Paris, viewing all prospective loans and creating strong relationships with the French institutions. At Maison de Victor Hugo, I explored the archive of Les Misérables, with theatre documents, rare photographs, letters. Once trust had been established, the museum showed me Hugo’s drawings.

I travelled to Meudon to see Rodin’s house and atelier. The storage room is extraordinary: there are endless shelves lined with fragments of body casts, hands, busts and feet. The curator showed me versions of Hugo’s bust in bronze, marble and terracotta. I selected the large plaster cast and a small bronze reduction, in order to represent the journey from shadow to light that is at the core of Les Misérables.

Don’t forget to visit the Readings exhibition pop-up shop!

At Bibliothèque nationale de France, I viewed rolls of black and white microfilm, portraits of Hugo from ages 15 to 85 scrolling before my eyes. I viewed rare books, prints, photographs, posters and drawings. However the Les Misérables manuscript was another affair: despite numerous requests, I wasn’t allowed to view it. It has been on display only a handful of times in France since 1885, so it was like asking for a private viewing of the Mona Lisa! It took months of diplomatic negotiations for the Bibliothèque nationale to agree to lend this national treasure to the State Library of Victoria.

I hope you enjoy this very special manuscript and the plethora of works that it has inspired, which continue to inspire us.

If you haven’t yet visited Victor Hugo: Les Misérables – From Page to Stage, then now is your chance! Download this flyer, print it out and present it at the State Library of Victoria Box Office to receive two exhibition tickets for the price of one! You’ll also find the flyers available in our shops.