The diva. She’s a divine cantatrice and a villainous prima donna. The curator of Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum’s upcoming exhibition Diva speaks to Madeleine Crutchley about the fantastical and fraught figure.
“Okay, diva!”
There’s a kaleidoscope of connotations for this phrase.
It could be
On June 28, Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum will welcome a dream of divas to its premises. The exhibition, simply titled Diva, explores the history of the figure from its origins in Roman mythology to its contemporary realisation in 21st-century pop megastars. It also interrogates all the different meanings of the term: as an idolising and a pejorative one.
Kate Bailey, senior curator at London’s V&A Museum and the lead on Diva, quickly became entangled in these connotations while researching and constructing the exhibition.
“I became fascinated because there were so many meanings and so many definitions, and I was curious to know how this term has sort of changed and been adopted and adapted into different ways.”
The origins of the term are Latin, and its use was popularised in Italy. In Roman mythology, diva refers to goddesses and is closely associated with divinity and heaven. French journalist and art critic Théophile Gautier was one of many in the 1830s who brought the word into popular parlance. He drew a connection between godliness and opera performers illuminated by the stage spotlight.
“It was a term to describe the most exceptional sort of prima donnas and these otherworldly figures who had these extraordinary voices and could command the stage,” Kate explains.
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Advertise with NZME.As the Italian opera stars toured Europe, the term dispersed more widely. It also became embedded in the characters these women played. A meta-reflection in 1931 cemented the concept into opera culture.
“There’s an opera by [Vincenzo] Bellini called Norma, and there’s a song called ‘Casta Diva’. It gets embedded into the psyche ...”
The phrase was, of course, celebratory of the talents of performers – some saw their likenesses carved into busts, with stone carving craft usually reserved for true deities.
However, the term was also effective in stripping them of their agency. Associating divinity with their voices portrayed the women on stage as mere channels for their “God-given” talents.
“[It] was almost like detaching them from their creative power. It was sort of seen through a slight kind of patriarchal lens ... whereas, actually, we know that they were interpreting roles and designing and creating their own looks. They would have worn their own costumes on the stage.”
Among the earliest opera stars recognised as a diva was Adelina Patti. The Spanish-Italian soprano stepped into stardom at just 18. In the 1860s, she performed La Sonnambula in London’s Covent Garden and went on to perform in 42 operas across Europe and North America for almost 60 years.
For Kate, Adelina’s story showcases the exceptional level of power afforded to divas, in contrast to other women in 19th-century societies.
“What I found so fascinating was looking at these women in the 19th century - they actually could command a real sense of wealth and power on the stage. They might not have had the vote, but they could travel the world.
“Adelina Patti is exceptional. She was able to buy a castle, she was able to commission her own couture, and she was moving in these circles which women were forbidden from.”
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After this formative period, divas continued to be found in other theatrical spaces. The exhibition reveals them in theatre, silent films, dance and Hollywood. Notable drama divas included Sarah Bernhardt, Theda Bara, Josephine Baker, Mae West and Joan Crawford, who earned the title with powerful dramatic performances and assertive off-stage personas. But the connection to the voice has endured: it’s likely the term draws your mind to steadfast stars like Diana Ross, Whitney Houston, Grace Jones, Madonna and Mariah Carey.
For the showing in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Kate also considered what diva means in the context of Aotearoa: an iconic piece from Dame Kiri Te Kanawa (Ngāti Maniapoto) is featured.
At the turn of the millennium, on New Year’s Day, she performed at dawn on a Gisborne beach to serenade the first sunrise of the new century. The soprano sang for a live, worldwide broadcast, backed by the 90-piece New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and the Waihirere Māori Club. Among the songs performed was the waiata Pōkarekare Ana. The performances were so resonant that the international broadcast extended its showing of the scenes in Gisborne.
“She’s a global star, in terms of the Royal Opera House [in London], or the world stage through the performances that she did in New Zealand at the millennium,” Kate says. “Her voice and her diva charisma and her sense of style and identity transcended the world... I know she’s had that kind of close relationship with her maker to kind of create her looks.”
For the millennium performance, Kiri donned a sky-blue, floor-length organza coat, featuring small plumes of white chicken feathers for a play on traditional feather kākahu.
The Millennium Gown, designed by Gwen Russell and Jannete Haslam, joins more than 50 other diva ensembles in the exhibition. Designs by Bob Mackie (who dressed Tina Turner and Cher) will be on display, alongside a costume worn by Marilyn Monroe for Some Like It Hot and extravaganzas donned by divas like Maria Callas, Elton John, Rihanna, Janelle Monae and Lady Gaga.
Fashion is an important tool for every diva. Aside from the striking nature of feathers and sequins, Kate explains that clothing allows the stars to project their sense of self.
The negative appropriation of the term, which associates a diva with an unreasonable and demanding demeanour, arose in rumours and reporting about the powerful stars.
“By the 1960s, there’s a [sense of] negativity. The diva is somebody who’s being demanding. But it becomes a kind of questionable thing: are they just being an artist, true to themselves?”
This is perhaps most clearly expressed in tabloids following Hollywood celebrities in the 2000s and 2010s. Think of stories “revealing” unreasonable backstage riders, elaborate requests for set dressing or brattish nightclub behaviour.
However, Kate is most interested in the contemporary reclamation of the term, within all sorts of subcultures (highlighting rock, pop, punk, drag and disco divas).
“If you look at the divas in rock and pop, they’re these strong, creative forces in charge of their destinies. Perhaps the backlash is connected to the patriarchy and how these extraordinary, exceptionally talented women have been seen.”
The smearing of the divas might also reflect the challenges they’ve historically posed to societal norms. Kate points to the work of Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone and Aretha Franklin in progressing the American civil rights movement; Joan Baez’s protest against the Vietnam War; Elton John’s fundraising for HIV-related programmes; and 2022 Glastonbury headliners such as Billie Eilish and Phoebe Bridgers condemning the US Supreme Court for overturning Roe vs Wade.
“These women often used their positions in a way to activate change for other performers and pioneer and spearhead momentous changes because they had this agency and power of their own.
“Ultimately, any of the divas could find their place in that narrative.”
So, in 2025, what have we learnt about the diva? In Kate’s view, it’s their shared qualities of hard graft and a drive for something different.
“Nothing was ever easy; everybody at their moment had their struggles or were pushing against something to shift a needle.”
An emblem of self-determination, of a desire for excellence, of a belief that we can be better. Don’t be afraid of the diva, history tells us – be brave enough to demand more.
Diva opens at Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum on June 28 and runs until October 19.
Madeleine Crutchley is a journalist for Viva and lifestyle and entertainment at the New Zealand Herald. She covers stories relating to fashion, culture and food and drink, from her hometown of Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. Recently, she’s written about Dunedin iD award winner Vince Ropitini, dressing during the climate emergency and contemporary sculpture artworks.
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