Author: AWB

MOSCOW – City of Contrasts

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Contributed with love and vodka by Marina Kurikhina –  Russian curator raised in London who has lived in Mexico City, Paris and New York. This avid traveller who worked for the Brazilian gallery Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel, is  now focusing on her own independent practice and process lead art classes in Big Sur, California. To start the day and sort out my life – Cafe Bulka, it’s located in the old, central part of Moscow behind Chistye Prudi – a small lake and across from the Pokrovka Boulevard. I love the name Bulka, the word means bread in Russian but it has a colloquial charming twist to it which is impossible to translate to English. Cafe Bulka has a great internet, a sleek beautiful design, great coffee and fresh pastries that are baked daily in their kitchen. The menu is a mix of Russian and European style food, so everyone can find something they like. Getting lost – I love to walk to Red Square through Kitay-Gorod, which is one of the oldest parts of the city. You have to know the way …

ASPEN: For Younglings, Cougars, Silver Foxes & Tree Huggers

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Contributed with love  by Constanza Garza, aka. GoodGirl Baby Cakes – A dame extraordinaire, fascinated with ink who opened the tattoo shop Sigue.Sigue.Sputnik (SSS) with tattoo artist Dr. Lakra in Mexico City in 2016. She’s a lover of nature, designer of jewelry, and mother of Felix. Jump start the day at –  Poppycocks! Yes, that’s the name. Roll out of bed and get yourself there and feast on scrambled eggs and bacon, avocado on toast and anything that your imagination can fathom. For something on the go, Peach’s Corner Cafe is the place for you. It has delicious smoothies, poppy seed muffins, green machine shakes and so much more.  If you happen to visit Aspen when there’s no snow – Little Cloud Trail is a must. It takes you about 20 mins to go up and then you take the main gondola trail down.  It’s full of wild flowers and you’re just completely submerged in nature in no time. I love the contrast between nature and city at the snap of your fingers. Note and I am not kidding: you might encounter bears. Take …

OAXACA: An Artist’s Guide

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Contributed with love and just for you by Sofia Fernandez Diaz – Mexican artist, lover of nature, processes and textures, currently based in the magical city of Oaxaca. First meal of the day – The best spot for breakfast in Oaxaca is El Mercado. There are so many mercados but the best one for having a traditional Oaxacan breakfast is La Merced. Once you’re there, go to Fonda Florecita. Another place for any meal is Biznaga. Here you’ll also eat traditional oaxacan food in a beautiful patio. My favorite dish is Las Calendas which is melted  quesillo (string cheese) wraped in hoja santa (the best-smelling herb) with a heart-shaped leaf and a side of beans. It’s incredible!  They have a great variety of mezcales and beers. Oaxaca is partially known for its food, there are so many delicious places to choose from so its very hard to make a bad food choice. Getting lost – Jalatlaco is the oldest neighborhood in Oaxaca. The streets are paved with cobblestones, there are all sorts of murals, and its just incredibly beautiful. The color combinations you see all over the …

SEOUL: The Tech, Tea & Karaoke Guide

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Contributed with love and just for you, by Juyoung Yoon – Korean but really a Londoner at heart, lover of all things gold and Baroque, who is currently the art and exhibitions assistant at MARIOTESTINO+ At the crack of dawn (kidding) –  Start with the Aria restaurant at the Chosun hotel for the breakfast buffet – you’re spoiled for choice! There is also a  Louise Bourgeois,  Maman monumental sculpture in the courtyard that I always stop by to admire. A walks to digest – A favorite of mine would have to be Namsan Park trail. It’s a green oasis right in the centre of Seoul and you temporarily forget you’re in this huge city. The glimpses of Seoul that you get along the walk is pretty amazing (both during the day and night!). However, another walk I love is in Heyri Art Valley, an artist colony built by artists on the outskirts of Seoul (less than an hour drive and close to South Korea’s DMZ line). It’s full of galleries and artist studios so you’re guaranteed to discover something! My latest museum obsession – I have too many favourite galleries and museums like Gana Art, Kukje or Hakgojae but my latest obsession is the Korea Furniture Museum. There’s really nothing like marvelling at traditional Korean craftmanship all …

PIETRASANTA: Tuscany Lost in Time

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I grew up spending my summers on the cozy hillside, Tuscan town of Pietrasanta. Wait, what am I saying? I still do. I’m actually sitting in the piazza right this second writing this! We used spend the whole month of July here – fourteen mischievous souls in total including siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents and second spouses (the common thread in my family). And up until a few years, people didn’t seem to know where Pietrasanta was, exactly. I always found myself saying that it’s a 20 minute bike ride from Forte Dei Marmi. Everyone’s heard of Forte but still, I’m sure they didn’t know exactly where that was either. But now, call it Google maps, CNTraveller or whatever, Pietrasanta, our little secret lost in time, has become ‘cool’ in everyone else’s eyes which sucks for us because our well-kept secret is out and up for grabs. Now we run into random people we know from elsewhere intruding in our little slice of heaven that is essentially made up of a main piazza and a few side streets. Sculpting …

NYC: The {off-the-grid} Guide

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Contributed with love by Miguel Batel – Mexican nomad fascinated with Japanese culture, currently based in New York City. Once upon a time he was the cultural attaché for Mexico in Canada; today, he’s focusing on personal photography projects, and works as a Producer and Lighting Director making some of the world’s most beautiful women even more beautiful. As much as possible, he loves going to Japan for the pure pleasure of getting traditionally tattooed and finding rare photo books. The best way to start the day –  There is a small place called Okonomi in Brooklyn that serves traditional Japanese set meals for breakfast and lunch. All the fish and vegetables are sourced locally and served in beautiful pottery. They take walk-ins only, but if there is a wait, it’s well worth it. A public artwork I like to go see – The Bust of Sylvette (1967), a monumental sculpture by Picasso that was recreated using sandblast cement by Carl Nesjar and Sigurd Frager, that is near NYU is incredible. It sits quietly amidst three Brutalist buildings by the great I.M. Pei. It’s a quiet pocket in the …

LISBON: In True Portuguese Style

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Contributed with love by Isabella Aballi – “I have a thing for cooking, drawing, indoor plants, and music produced before I was born. Still waiting for Freaks and Geeks season 2… Currently Events and Press at Blain Southern”. When I wake up and I desperately need food in my belly – I make a pit stop at Choupana Caffé. It’s the perfect place to grab a quick bite to eat or to sit back and relax a bit; the latter being in true Portuguese fashion. Try the pressed ham and cheese croissant – it will take you back to your childhood giving your belly that cosy carby feeling – yummm. A walk to digest my breakfast – Walk two blocks (enough walking for me) and you’ll hit the Jardim da Fundaçao Calouste Gulbenkian. Personally, I prefer the Modern Collection which is packed with incredible modern and contemporary artworks, a good chunk of them by Portuguese artists. For a country known for its orthodox ways, I was pleasantly surprised and immediately drank the Kool-Aid. My latest museum obsession – Casa das Histórias – …

Bird in Space

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It all started with Marcel. You know, Duchamp? He is considered the most influential artist of the 20th century (not Picasso) and for some reason, I think of him more as a whacky scientist than an artist. Maybe that’s just because he was in everyone’s business introducing people to one another, revolutionizing, criticizing and influencing his contemporaries unknowingly. He knew everyone and he played a key part in so many historical twisted events. My favorite story in all the stories of Art History that of Brancusi’s fabulous Bird in Space, the golden bullet-like sculpture located at the MoMa in New York. It was originally part of an edition of nine bronze casts and seven marbles created in 1923. An American collector by the name of Edward Steichen bought one of the bronzes in 1926 in France and he asked the artist to ship it to the United States. “Sure” said Brancusi, “coincidentally, a very good friend of mine, Marcel, is traveling to the States so I’ll just send it with him”. “Cool” said Steichen. So off goes Duchamp with Bird …

SEVILLA: For Lovers, Foodies & Dancers

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Contributed with love and cojones by Angela Vilches: Sevillana to the core turned Chilanga (person from Mexico City) by coincidence. Lead the corporate life for 9 years until she decided that men desperately needed to improve the situation in their pants: in 2016 she launched Mr. U, an ultra-cool, design line of delicious, affordable, men’s underwear. The best and only way to start the day in Sevilla… The first thing you need to know about Sevilla is that everything – and I mean everything – is done on foot. It’s an absolute no no if you even think about taking a taxi anywhere.Now that that’s out of the way – we eat! Having churros for breakfast in Sevilla is a must and it’s the most Spanish thing, so too bad if you don’t have a sweet tooth. My favorite and the most traditional churreria, full of azulejos and locals, is on the corner of Parque de los Principes and it’s open from 7 am onwards. Order like a local – “calentitos” and hot chocolate. Just the right digestive walk… My favorite walk actually begins at …

DUBAI: 24 hrs of Arty Wanderlust

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Contributed with love and just for you, by Noura Al-Maashouq – who is an Artist Liaison at Blain|Southern in London, and serves on the committee of Unicef’s NEXTGeneration. She loves art, travel, and food, but not nearly as much as she loves Beyoncé. When I wake up and I desperately need food in my belly –  Whenever I’m in Dubai I love to go to Zaroob to pig out – it’s super caj, cheap and easy and they serve Levantine street food. Everything from the décor, waiters’ outfits, to the menu is Middle Eastern themed, which is a bit cheesy but also, why not… My favorite is the Manoushe, or baked bread, mmm, carbs and fresh lemonade with mint. A walk to digest my breakfast – I love walking around the DIFC art galleries, they are all so close to one another and the whole complex is beautifully designed. There are great restaurants in the area, so art is like the amuse-bouche. My latest museum obsession – I love the Salsali Private Museum, and also Ayyam Gallery where I’m constantly discovering new Middle Eastern artists. I love Ayyam’s …