Art and womanhood are central to the Miu Miu universe. As one half of Miuccia Prada’s fashion empire, Miu Miu is steadily surpassing its older sister in popularity. It has positioned itself as a hub of cultural dialogue, serving as an art platform for fashion enthusiasts and a fashion interpreter for the art world.

Miu Miu, fascinated by the diversity of women’s experiences, launched Women’s Tales in 2011. This biannual short film forum invites female filmmakers to explore their personal interpretations of femininity. In a separate initiative, Mrs. Prada commissions artists to create grand installations and motion image projects, which become the backdrop for the brand’s runway shows. Both artistic initiatives makes Miu Miu a natural fit as the official public program partner for Art Basel Paris. The result of this partnership? Tales & Tellers—a major project that surveys the entire history of Miu Miu and its female creative collaborators.

Tales & Tellers was conceived by interdisciplinary artist Goshka Macuga, Miu Miu’s latest runway collaborator. She is the creative force behind The Truthless Times, a fictional yet readable newspaper and printing press that served as the backdrop for Miu Miu’s Spring/Summer 2025 collection and later appeared in deconstructed form at the Art Basel presentation. For Tales & Tellers, artefacts from the earlier installation were displayed throughout the Palais d’Iéna, Miu Miu’s usual runway show venue, alongside screens projecting all 35 short films from the Women’s Tales and artist collaboration collections.

Miu Miu Tales & Tellers. Courtesy of Miu Miu. T-space studio

In Tales & Tellers, thirty-five actors perform alongside each film, bringing a character from the story to life—complete with archival or, in one case, custom Miu Miu costumes. Among the performers were Victoria from Somebody, directed by Miranda July; Carmen from Carmen, directed by Chloë Sevigny; Gita from I am the Beauty of Your Beauty, I am the Fear of Your Fear, directed by Chio Mui Tam; The Remedy by Nathalie Djurberg and Hans Berg; and Reception by Cécile B. Evans. Under movement direction by Macuga and theatre/opera director Fabio Cherstich, the actors became custodians of the tales, agents of their stories.

Elvira Dyangani Ose, Director of the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, hosted a series of panel discussions in the Palais’ parliament. Instead of focusing solely on their films, the directors and artists were invited to explore their experiences and the personal frameworks behind their creations—their own "women’s tales."

See below for a full list of the characters and their films:

Women’s Tales

1. Audrey from The Powder Room, dir. Zoe Cassavetes (SS11)
2. The Chrysalid from Muta, dir. Lucrecia Martel (FW11)
3. The Witch from The Woman Dress, dir. Giada Colagrande (SS12)
4. The Singer from It’s Getting Late, dir. Massy Tadjedin (FW12)
5. She from The Door, dir. Ava Duvernay (SS13)
6. The Performer from Le Donne Della Vucciria, dir Hiam Abbass (FW13)
7. Elizabeth from Spark & Light, dir. So Yong Kim (SS14)
8. Victoria from Somebody, dir. Miranda July (FW14)
9. The Actress from De Djess, dir. Alice Rohrwacher (SS15)
10. Jasmine from Les 3 Boutons, dir. Agnès Varda (FW15)
11. The Girl from Seed, dir. Naomi Kawase (SS16)
12. Rachelle from That One Day, dir. Crystal Moselle (FW16)
13. Carmen from Carmen, dir. Chloë Sevigny (SS17)
14. The Host from (The [End) of History Illusion], dir. Celia Rowlson-Hall (FW17)
15. Ava from Hello Apartment, dir. Dakota Fanning (SS18)
16. Badria from The Wedding Singer’s Daughter, dir. Haifaa Al-Mansour (FW18)
17. Laila from Shako Mako, dir. Hailey Gates (SS19)
18. Brigitte from Brigitte, dir. Lynne Ramsay (custom)
19. The Boy from Nightwalk, dir. Małgorzata Szumowska (SS20)
20. Mati from In My Room, dir. Mati Dop (FW20)
21. The Farmhand from Shangri-La, dir. Isabel Sandoval (SS21)
22. Nora from I and the Stupid Boy, dir. Kaouther Ben Hania (FW21)
23. Jean from House Comes with a Bird, dir. Janicza Bravo (SS22)
24. The Mother from Carta a Mi Madre para Mi Hijo, dir. Carla Simón (FW22)
25. Luz from Eye Two Times Mouth, dir. Lila Avilès (SS23)
26. Stane from Stane, dir. Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović (FW23)
27. Gita from I am the Beauty of your Beauty, I am the Fear of your Fear, dir. Chio Mui Tam (SS24)
28. Caterina from El Affaire Miu Miu, dir. Laura Citarella (FW24)

Artist Collaborations

29. Meriem’s Mother for SS22 by Meriem Bennani
30. The Remedy for FW22 by Nathalie Djurberg and Hans Berg
31. The Shark for SS23 by Shuang Li
32. The Artist for FW23 by Geumhyung Jeong
33. Grace from SS24 by Sophia Al-Maria
34. Reception from FW24 by Cécile b. Evans
35. Pathos from SS25 by Goshka Macuga

Miu Miu Tales & Tellers. Courtesy of Miu Miu. T-space studio