EVENTS
CitiGroup Building/Main Level & Lower Level,
53rd and Lexington, New York City
UNTIL JANUARY 31, 2013
So Near, So Strange: terra cibus
Photography by Caren Alpert
The American photographer Caren Alpert is best known for her food and still-life work. For her project terra cibus (“land of food”), she has taken a completely different approach to her theme and subjects: Using an electron microscope, she discovers landscapes, patterns and textures on food that are hidden from the naked eye. The result is an astonishing view of our daily bread – with photos that seem almost abstract and bring us closer to the food we eat every day in a unique way – unsettling, astounding, incredible.
The exhibition in New York will end on January 13, 2013. You can also marvel at some of her photos, which are available for purchase as a limited edition, online. Pictured on the left: terra cibus no: 12: cake sprinkles.
www.carenalpertfineart.com
Laband Art Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
UNTIL 8 DECEMBER
Return to the Sea: Saltworks by Motoi Yamamoto
Japanese artist Motoi Yamamoto (born 1966) creates unique works of art using salt. Pictures, patterns and mandalas that are both meditative and dynamic – and always ephemeral. Yamamoto spends hundreds of hours on each of his intricate, hand-made installations, and at the end of an exhibition he sweeps up the salt and throws it back into the sea.
In Yamamoto’s homeland, Japan, salt is an important part of funerals and other rituals. At burials, mourners throw salt behind them over their shoulder and sumo wrestlers use salt to cleanse the ring before a match. Personal grief is what led Yamamoto, who grew up by the sea, to create art. To Yamamoto, salt perfectly expresses the fleetingness of life.
Motoi Yamamoto’s “Return to the Sea” installation can be seen at the Laband Art Gallery on the Loyola Marymount University campus in Los Angeles until December 8.
More information:
http://cfa.lmu.edu/labandartgallery/
http://vimeo.com/42177795
London, Great Britain
UNTIL JULY 29
Ping Pong’s Coming Home
Everyone else may be talking about the Olympic Games, but we’re talking about Ping! With charm and dedication, the Ping! project is spearheading the charge to raise the popularity of a truly English sport: table tennis. Starting on June 29, 100 table tennis tables will be set up all over London, inviting people to play a game of ping pong on the street for free. 4,000 paddles and 10,000 balls are just waiting for a game at locations like the British Library, Canary Wharf and Portobello Market. People can even look on the website to find a table in their neighborhood. Ping! will also feature a series of tournaments and master classes. It’s not just London though – Bristol and Liverpool are also taking part in the project.
http://www.pinglondon.co.uk/
Munich, Germany
DECEMBER 9, 2011 - JANUARY 6, 2012
The Biggest Feuerzangenbowle in the World
Feuerzangenbowle is simply a part of winter – at least in Germany. The name of the traditional punch refers to its special preparation: A sugar cone soaked in rum is placed on a “Zange” (a tong) which is suspended over a bowl containing heated spiced red wine. The sugar cone is lit, making the sugar melt and drip into the wine. The specialty is perhaps best known for being the title of a German film classic “Die Feuerzangenbowle” – a cult comedy which has helped the drink regain cult status in the past years. The punch can be enjoyed especially merrily in downtown Munich: At the festively decorated Isartor, Munich residents will be brewing the largest Feuerzangenbowle in the world. Up to 9,000 liters of punch will be made in a pot with a diameter of 2.5 meters – and the movie will naturally be shown as well.
www.muenchner-feuerzangenbowle.de/
Mexico
NOVEMBER 1 - 2, 2011
Día de los Muertos (Day of the Deads)
In Mexican culture, death is an integral part of life. This mentality gave rise to the Día de los Muertos, or the “Day of the Deads.” Every year in November, Mexicans observe this festival both publically and privately with a family celebration for deceased relatives whose souls are said to return on this day according to their beliefs. With skulls made of icing, coffins of chocolate, and “pan de muerto,” which is a cake shaped like a bone, the markets in the cities offer various bizarre specialties that can be used as decoration or given to friends as gifts.
www.dayofthedead.com
Paris, France
OCTOBER 22 - 24, 2011
Salon du Chocolat
Be it as a drink, as a bar, or as a high-class praline, chocolate is one of the most popular confections. For fans of the brown or white delicacy, the Salon du Chocolat, the world’s largest event centered on chocolate, is just what the doctor ordered. In 2011 the trade show is taking place for the seventeenth time in France, this year at the Porte de Versailles in Paris. Chocolate lovers can in addition to well-known brands make the acquaintance of new chocolatiers and discover the latest creations and trends from the world of chocolate. The numerous shows, performances, and tastings are enough to make visitors’ mouths water.
www.salon-du-chocolat.com
London, UK
OCTOBER 21 - 22, 2011
Experimental Food Society Spectacular 2011
Children everywhere know that you’re not supposed to play with your food. It looks like someone forgot to tell these artists. When the talented members of the Experimental Food Society get together, they make animal sculptures from chili peppers, bake gorilla-shaped cakes, and model faces using chocolate. The Experimental Food Society unites England’s most creative culinary artists. They share a love for food and the desire to constantly rediscover victuals and rethink how they are showcased. This year, with its unique creations, the Experimental Food Society Spectacular is drawing visitors to the Old Truman Brewery in the hip east-end of London. Here, visitors can watch Emily Crane as she styles her fashion and jewelry pieces from molecular cuisine, while food futurologist Dr. Morgaine Gaye provides the event with some scientific background. But such an event would not be complete without something for the taste buds: How about trying ice cream made from camel’s milk? This year’s menu also boasts eight of the world’s strangest foods for your culinary delight.
www.trumanbrewery.com/cgi-bin/commingup.pl
Berlin, Germany
12TH - 23RD OCTOBER 2011
Festival of Lights
In October 2011 Berlin, the capital of Germany will sparkle once again. For twelve days the Festival of Lights will attract over one million visitors. National and international artists and lighting designers will illuminate famous landmarks such as The Brandenburg Gate, Berlin Cathedral and the Television Tower. Alongside the amazing illuminations and light sculptures the festival (admission free) will glitter with an outstanding program of countless art and cultural events all based on the theme of light.
www.festival-of-lights.de
Melbourne, Australia
6TH - 22ND OCTOBER 2011
Melbourne Festival
Dance, theatre, music and visual art – the Melbourne Festival, one of the leading arts festivals in Australia, is a colorful mix of all kinds of art forms and genres and enjoys an excellent international reputation. Every year in October artists from all over the world present their work over 17 days. The aim of the festival is to emphasize the common links between different cultures and at the same time to celebrate the differences. Participants from such diverse countries as India, Russia, Sudan, Iraq, Lithuania or the Democratic Republic of Congo cannot but ensure that this multi-cultural aspect of the festival is a huge success this year. The superb program boasts 52 shows, events and projects, including 15 world premieres and 13 Australian premieres.
www.melbournefestival.com.au
Shanghai, China
30TH SEPTEMBER - 6TH OCTOBER 2011
12th Shanghai International Music Fireworks Festival
The sky above Century Park in Pudong is transformed into a multi-colored sea of light. This awe inspiring sight is thanks to of the International Music Fireworks Festival which takes place every year for a week coinciding with the Chinese national holiday at the beginning of October. Throughout the festival, international pyrotechnicians wow audiences with the latest developments and technologies from the world of firework art. A total of six teams compete against each other. Modern films and pop music in harmony with the colors and rhythm of the fireworks accompany the pyrotechnic displays.
www.shfireworks.org/En/
London, England
17TH SEPTEMBER - 25TH SEPTEMBER 2011
London Design Festival
Since 2003 London has played host to the international design community for nine days every year. At the London Design Festival artists representing 25 different design disciplines gather from around the world to meet, exchange ideas, make contacts and present their projects. Apart from the artists themselves, the festival attracts a huge number of visitors every year, offering a vast array of over 250 events to choose from, including major exhibitions, installations and seminars, most of which are free. It’s not surprising that the London Design Festival has become one of the most important design events worldwide.
www.londondesignfestival.com
New York, USA
JULY 24 - NOVEMBER 7, 2011
TALK TO ME: DESIGN AND THE COMMUNICATION BETWEEN PEOPLE AND OBJECTS
What role does technology play in communication today? And how does communication between people and objects work? The exhibition "Talk to Me" at the Museum of Modern Art in New York takes a closer look at these questions. The objects on exhibit range from items dating from the late 1960s to products that are still in the development stage. From machine interfaces and computers to installations, the exhibit presents a broad spectrum of different objects from around the globe. The organizers see the selection of objects as an ongoing process, however. Even after the opening, a blog will introduce additional projects and – in keeping with the spirit of the exhibit – seek dialog with visitors and others who want to share their perspectives.
Blog: MoMa.org/talktome
www.moma.org/visit/calendar/exhibitions/1080
Bochum, Germany
MAY 6 - OCTOBER 31, 2011
HEAVENLY FRAGRANCE AND HELLISH STENCH
Although we often do not notice them on a conscious level, scents and odors play a significant role in determining whether we find someone or something attractive – or unpleasant. An exhibit in the botanical garden of the Ruhr University in Bochum makes a broad spectrum of smells accessible to visitors. For example, certain scents can be explored in individual booths. The program also includes interesting information on chemical structures and how scents are produced, the history and marketing of perfumes, aromatherapy and new discoveries about olfactory processes. The exhibit is rounded off by a "fragrance tour" of the botanical gardens and a variety of related activities.
www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/duft/ausstellung/index.html
St. Petersburg, Russia
27TH MAY - 24TH JULY 2011
THE WHITE NIGHTS FESTIVAL
World famous music, international stars and warm summer evenings against a backdrop of baroque architecture – all of this is on offer at the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg. The arts festival is centred around the Mariinsky Theatre, where opera, ballet and classical concerts are performed daily. The festival attracts big names from the classical scene; greats such as Placido Domingo, Anna Netrebko and Deborah Voigt have already performed there. The high point of the festival is the Scarlet Sails Celebration, in which the school children of St. Petersburg celebrate the end of the school year with fireworks and a big live show. Classic music lovers should keep the months from May to July free for this not-to-be-missed experience.
http://www.wnfa.org/festivalstars.htm
India
MARCH 20, 2011
HOLI FESTIVAL
Welcome, springtime! This is the message of the Hindu Holi festival, which is celebrated throughout India. Holi is also known as the festival of colors – and with good reason. During the exuberant processions, people paint each other with colored water or gulal, colored powders in the brilliant hues of spring flowers. The festival is ushered in with the ritual burning of a straw effigy that represents the demon Holika. In this sense the Hindu festival also stands for renewal and the victory of good over evil. Depending on the region, the celebrations can continue for up to ten days.
www.holifestival.org
Lapland, Finland
FEBRUARY / MARCH 2011
POLAR NIGHTS IN FINLAND
Lighting up the night sky above the Arctic Circle during the dark winter months, the aurora borealis, or northern lights, are one of the most spectacular sights that nature has to offer. Electrically charged particles emitted by the sun are responsible for the northern lights: when the particles collide with the Earth’s atmosphere, they cause molecules in the air to emit light. These blue, green, violet and red lights can be seen clearly from February to March as well as in the months of September and October. The Finnish town of Kilpisjärvi, located in the northernmost reaches of Lapland, is one of the best places to observe the northern lights – far away from the lights of the big city, the dark night sky sets off the phenomenon especially well.
www.laplandfinland.com
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EXHIBITIONS
Laband Art Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
UNTIL 8 DECEMBER
Return to the Sea: Saltworks by Motoi Yamamoto
Japanese artist Motoi Yamamoto (born 1966) creates unique works of art using salt. Pictures, patterns and mandalas that are both meditative and dynamic – and always ephemeral. Yamamoto spends hundreds of hours on each of his intricate, hand-made installations, and at the end of an exhibition he sweeps up the salt and throws it back into the sea.
In Yamamoto’s homeland, Japan, salt is an important part of funerals and other rituals. At burials, mourners throw salt behind them over their shoulder and sumo wrestlers use salt to cleanse the ring before a match. Personal grief is what led Yamamoto, who grew up by the sea, to create art. To Yamamoto, salt perfectly expresses the fleetingness of life.
Motoi Yamamoto’s “Return to the Sea” installation can be seen at the Laband Art Gallery on the Loyola Marymount University campus in Los Angeles until December 8.
More information:
http://cfa.lmu.edu/labandartgallery/
http://vimeo.com/42177795
Zurich, Switzerland
DECEMBER 2, 2011 - APRIL 9, 2012
Perfume – Packaged Seduction
It isn’t just the fragrance that makes a perfume so enticing. With an elegantly formed bottle and sensuous packaging, a perfume also appeals in terms of optics and touch. The seductive power of these exquisite receptacles is now the subject of an exhibition at the Museum Bellerive in Zurich. The museum is displaying both historical and modern bottles from its own inventory as well as treasures from two private collections. The valuable pieces allow visitors to discover and explore the world of perfume bottles, with their great creativity and diversity of designs and materials. And, of course, people can also enjoy the scent and look of the fragrances themselves in addition to admiring the bottles and packaging.
www.museum-bellerive.ch
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
OCTOBER 28 - NOVEMBER 1, 2011
International Art Expo Malaysia
Since 2007, art lovers and collectors from around the world have enjoyed the opportunity to meet once a year in Kuala Lumpur at a young and ambitious art trade fair: the International Art Expo Malaysia. Numerous galleries displaying mainly Asian art are presented at the Matrade Exhibition & Convention Centre providing an exciting and representative cross section of contemporary art – from paintings and sculptures to installations and digital art. For those interested in experiencing the lively art scene of this dynamic region, the International Art Expo is an absolute must!
artexpomalaysia.com/
London, England
6TH OCTOBER 2011 - 8TH JANUARY 2012
Gerhard Richter: Panorama
The German painter Gerhard Richter has always responded to contemporary history. His work has dealt with National Socialism, the extreme left wing RAF and the attack on the World Trade Centre. To mark his 80th birthday this year the Tate Gallery of Modern Art in London is launching a major retrospective of the artist’s work. The exhibition spans five decades illustrating chronologically the most important periods of Richter’s work. Many of the pieces will be shown for the first time outside of Germany.
www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/gerhardrichter/default.shtm
Chicago, USA
25TH SEPTEMBER 2011 - 8TH JANUARY 2012
No Place Like Home
“Home” is a very emotional word and probably means something different to each and every one of us. The exhibition “No Place Like Home”, which draws its title from the children’s classic “The Wizard of Oz”, is dedicated to the different dimensions and concepts of “home”. Comprising of about thirty works by the artists and photographers Lisa Lindvay, Jon Lowenstein, Jason Reblando, Jessica Rodrigue, David Schalliol and Leilani Wertens the exhibition illustrates how background and ethnic origin as well as political and socio-economic factors influence how individuals perceive “home” differently and how difficult it is to develop a secure feeling of home. The exhibition also opens the way for dialog; with discussions, film screenings, a workshop and a symposium entitled “The home in/as community” on urban development in Chicago.
www.hydeparkart.org/exhibitions/2011/09/no_place_like_home.php
Sydney, Australia
30TH JULY 2011 - APRIL 2012
LOVE LACE
It is the interplay between structure and airy space, which makes lace so fascinating. Although this fine art is often associated with crafts and fashion, the exhibition “Love Lace” in the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney shows a provocative array of possibilities for its use from the whimsical to the inventive. A total of 134 artists from 20 different countries are represented in the exhibition and show what can be done with lace, from sculptures made of human hair to crocheted steel wool, large meshed jewellery made of titanium or digital multi-media installations. Here fantasy knows no boundaries.
www.powerhousemuseum.com/lovelace/
Berlin, Germany
26TH AUGUST - 24TH OCTOBER 2011
HOKUSAI - RETROSPECTIVE
The Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849), known internationally as Hokusai, still counts as one of the most significant Asian artists to date. Now for the first time in Germany the Martin-Gropius-Bau in Berlin is showing a major retrospective of his work. The exhibition includes over 440 works on loan to the museum most of which have come from Japan, forming a comprehensive collection which will be shown exclusively in Berlin. Pieces from all creative periods of the artist’s life, including woodblock prints and sketches as well as illustrated books and paintings, offer an insight into the life’s work of Hokusai. His most famous work the woodcut “The great wave off Kanagawa” will also be exhibited.
www.berlinerfestspiele.de
Doha, Qatar
30TH DECEMBER 2010 - 1ST OCTOBER 2011
SAJJIL: A CENTURY OF MODERN ART
Mathaf is the Arabic word for museum, and the name of a new museum of modern art in Doha. What is so special about this museum is that it possesses over 6,000 exhibits of Arabic art covering every country in the Arab world and every period, from the mid nineteenth century up to today. The museum, which was founded by H.E. Sheikh Hassan, has made it its mission to bring Arabic art and all its facets to an international public. The inaugural exhibition “Sajjil: A Century Of Modern Art” will include 200 artworks, in which we can find traces of a common Arabian culture.
http://www.mathaf.org.qa/mathaf_exhibitions.html
Hanover, Germany
10TH MARCH - 26TH JUNE 2011
THE ESSENCE OF THINGS – DESIGN AND THE ART OF REDUCTION
In the quest for beauty one should not be dazzled by the loud, garish and brightly coloured. In fact the beauty of things is often in the simplicity of the idea and in reduced design. The August Kestner Museum in Hannover has dedicated an exhibition to this theme. Here visitors come to understand how the principle of reduction has influenced art and crafts for many centuries. The exhibition will include design classics such as the famous Chair No. 14 by the master cabinetmaker Michael Thonet and furniture and product designs by Gerrit Rietveld, Le Corbusier, Dieter Rams and Jasper Morrison. The exhibition runs until 26th June.
http://www.hannover.de/kestner/aktuell/essenz.html
Frankfurt, Germany
11TH MARCH - 8TH MAY 2011
THE i-COSMOS. MIGHT, MYTH AND MAGIC OF A BRAND
An apple not only tastes good it can also change the world. An apple once inspired the physicist Isaac Newton to discover the law of gravity. Today the apple logo of the US company Apple stands for a revolution in information and entertainment technology, for innovation and modern design. Now the Apple phenomenon is explored in a new exhibition at the Museum of Applied Art in Frankfurt. An array of Apple products and their accompanying gadgets as well as copycat products from the competition trace the development of the Apple Cult, an important chapter in the history of technology and design. The exhibition runs until 8th May.
www.angewandtekunst-frankfurt.de/deutsch/05_ikosmos.html
London, Great Britain
3RD MARCH - 3RD JULY 2011
AFGHANISTAN – CROSSROADS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD
Many works of art were lost in Afghanistan during the years of the Soviet invasion and under the control of the Taliban. Thankfully a handful of Afghan officials took custody of many pieces and brought them to safety. Now over 200 of these treasures can be seen for the first time in the British Museum. They tell the story of the richness of the culture and the tradition of trade in this country in the heart of Asia to an international audience. The exhibition includes classical sculptures, gold jewellery, and polished stone tableware. Visitors can enjoy rediscovering these artefacts until 3rd of July.
www.britishmuseum.org
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