How Hard Rock Cafe gets those memorabilia
Published on: Friday, March 06, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: A feature of Hard Rock Cafés wherever they are found is the display of memorabilia of top-rated artistes and the one to open in the State Capital next month is no exception.It would be the fourth Hard Rock Café in Malaysia after Kuala Lumpur, Malacca and Penang. Among the items to be featured include Slash of Guns n' Roses top hat, Nikki Minaj's black lace dress, Rihanna's black and white "Boy" outfit and Gene Simmons' of KISS' Silver Chrome G.S Cort Punisher guitar. ADVERTISEMENT Memorabilia designer Giovanni Taliaferro said a lot of research is involved when setting up a Hard Rock Café."When a project comes to board we start to do research of the local market like what might be relevant or what artistes they know. A lot of time we do research on who might be viable in the market."We also reach out to the local partners and franchise partners who would provide us with almost something like a wish list of who they would like to see on display."From there we look into what we have available because although we do have the largest rock and roll collection in the world but with over 200 properties worldwide it's only so much we have currently available to give around," he said at a media preview, Thursday. ADVERTISEMENT Taliaferro said that although they do reach out and try to find as many of the current and notable artistes available, they do at the same time also try to introduce new artistes."Our job is to tell a story of the past, present and future where we want to introduce people as well.
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It's all about helping out our friends in the industry."He said the showpieces would stay on display for roughly seven years before a new showcase is brought in and most of the pieces are either donated to Hard Rock or bought at an auction."We have a team that goes to different auctions to see what's available and can be acquired. Another way is through donation. We have an amazing rapport with a lot of the rock stars and a lot of time they would reach out to us telling us of a piece they want to donate."Sometimes in return we do a contribution programme to a charity of their choice, in their name."However, Taliaferro acknowledged that some iconic pieces are a little too difficult to obtain as certain artistes may find it very special for them.He added that with the many items displayed in the café no actual figure can be placed on any of the pieces."I always say these pieces are priceless because these are authentic pieces. It isn't just a replica of something – it's real. But the prices are subjective. What you might feel would be priced more might not be so for another person."But we do our best to keep it in its natural state, we don't want to affect the pieces too much as we want it to still symbolise exactly the way it was worn and what not.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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"We do our best to try celebrate these artistes in how they wore things and how they displayed things and keep it natural to that."It offers rock and roll-inspired items as well as exclusively designed Kota Kinabalu collectible merchandise at its Rock Store.