Tuesday May 17 we docked at 4:00am so downtown Saint Petersburg that people walking on the sidewalk could see into our suite. We were a few minutes walk from the Hermitage Museum.
After clearing immigration (you need a visa to enter Russia, unless you have arranged private escorted tours like we had), we were met by Slava, our driver, who for the next three days would take us everywhere in a large white Mercedes Benz.
Thursday, May 12 we travelled to Copenhagen, Denmark. We had many things on our list, and being there for two days only, we had to make many sacrifices. But overall, we covered a lot of ground.
We had many things on our list, and being there for two days only, we had to make many sacrifices. But overall, we covered a lot of ground.Upon arrival in the airport we took the very convenient and modern train that took us to the Central Station, and our hotel was next door.
The weekend of February 27 and 28 I set up my first art exhibition as Independent International Art Curator.
In collaboration with the Internet Freedom Festival, held in Las Naves (Valencia) from 2 to 6 March, Net Freedom Art Show is an international, itinerant, collective and multidisciplinary contemporary art show. After its debut in Valencia, it will be exhibited in galleries around the world (New York, London, Santiago de Chile, and Kaunas).
Walking towards my London Shoreditch office
to meet the Swiss investor and his impeccable suit,
leaving the City bankers’s coffee-holding fast pace behind,
I notice the absence nobody seems to
Where did he go?
His sleeping sack and pillow still on the sidewalk
as annoyingly positioned in the corner as always
But he’s gone
.
I wonder and I worry
his failing body, almost as absent as his lost gaze
Yesterday we went to see a couple exhibitions at Somerset House, in London.
The first exhibition we saw was “TINTIN: Hergé`s Masterpiece”. Basic but obviously appealing, it was too crowded to be enjoyable.
The second one was “Big Bang Data”.
While undoubtedly interesting, especially for someone who works in, teaches, and loves bid data and technology like myself, to me the most interesting aspect of this exhibition is that everyone who was there had already experienced the subject.
On December 4 I was lucky enough to be invited to visit Ai Weiwei`s exhibition at the Royal Academy.
I knew I would enjoy it since Ai Weiwei is one of my favourite artists. I knew even my son, my wife and my mother-in-law would enjoy it, since Ai Weiweis art is highly figurative and symbolic, even to the point of being obvious with his latest works (which makes its appeal that more far-reaching if slightly less elitist).
December 2 I went to the Tate Modern with the whole family, since my mother-in-law was visiting from overseas.
I really like how it is set up according to concepts, rather than chronologically, by artists, or by styles. It feels more like an art gallery (which it is) than a museum. It puts things into the subjective focus of the curator. I wonder how much the artists themselves would agree with the collection parameters, but it definitely is a welcome departure from the more traditional museum logic.
