The Last Tuesday Society is delighted to announce London’s first exhibition on the origins & rituals of absinthe. Let me be mad! will explore the botanical spirit’s illustrious past with original artwork and paraphernalia from absinthe’s heyday, following the spirit’s rise as a liquid muse to rebellious minds of the Belle Époque, to its unruly fall. Curated by Allison Crawbuck, Director of The Last Tuesday Society & co-founder of Devil’s Botany, the exhibition is free to the public and will be on view in The Absinthe Parlour at The Last Tuesday Society 11 Mare Street E8 4RP from 8th July to 16th September 2024.
The exhibition takes its name from Marie Corelli’s novel Wormwood: A Drama of Paris written in London in 1890: “Let me be mad, then, by all means! mad with the madness of Absinthe, the wildest, most luxurious madness in the world!”
Let me be mad! celebrates the spirit’s magical and medicinal origins, with a unique look at London’s untold connections to the spirit’s notorious past, and highlights absinthe’s vital role in the city’s classic cocktail history. Beautiful 19th century absinthe spoons, glassware and other art nouveau-inspired paraphernalia will capture the alluring rituals that once seduced absinthe drinkers in the Belle Époque.
The exhibition will launch with a special curator talk and absinthe tasting hosted on Monday 8th July at The Last Tuesday Society 7pm-8:30pm, exploring the origins & rituals of absinthe as they have never been seen in London before.
Bringing the spirit of this exhibition to life, The Absinthe Parlour will also be launching its new ‘Pataphysics’ cocktail menu on Monday 8th July inspired by devout absinthe drinker and father of the pataphysical pseudo science.
Jarry was among the few mad enough to drink their absinthe neat: famously quoted saying: “Anti-alcoholics are unfortunates in the grip of water, that terrible poison, so corrosive that out of all substances it has been chosen for washing and scouring, and a drop of water added to a clear liquid like Absinthe, muddles it.”