In 1970, at the Isle of Wight Festival, Nicola L. conceived Same Skin for Everybody, featuring the Red Coat as a communal garment, for a performance with Brazilian musicians. Prior to the festival, she ceremoniously “baptised” the coat at Playa de las Salinas in Ibiza. Between 1970–76, the performance with Red Coat took place in multiple cities including Brussels, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Paris, Flaine, New York and Antwerp.

Red Coat “Same Skin for Everybody”, 1969-1976, Performances in Isle of Wight, Paris, Flaine, Ghent, and Antwerp
duration: 40:42:00 mins
video documentation

Courtesy Nicola L. Collection & Archive and Alison Jacques © Nicola L. Collection & Archive

Nicola L.'s Red Coat, A Communal Garment | M HKA
Video: Eyes-Screen

Audio

In the summer of 1970, I met two young Brazilians in Ibiza.  They had brought with them several cassettes of very good Brazilian music, much of which was by Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, whom I did not yet know of. They told me about a music festival that was going to take place on the Isle of Wight at the end of that summer and were planning to go there with Caetano and Gilberto...  “Why don’t you come with us?  Find an idea for a performance, we will be a group there, at least nine or ten…
Before they left, I suggested the idea of a communal coat. This coat would be worn by eleven people -- myself included. That way we would be protected from the cold, the rain, and also from getting lost… The Coat would be made out of plastic and would fit like a skin: “Same Skin For Everybody.” My two friends applauded the project with great enthusiasm and left the island shortly thereafter…
 

→ Listen to the full story of the Red Coat by Nicola L. by clicking on the icon above  ↑ or on the following link Red Coat by Nicola L.^[1] 

Red Coat performance in Antwerp, 1976
© All photos: M HKA, Archive of Internationaal Cultureel Centrum (ICC), [International Cultural Centre],  Antwerp en Nicola L. Collection & Archive

Installation views Nicola L. — When the Earth Turned the Other Way
© Nicola L. Collection & Archive — photos: We Document Art, 2026