There’s no doubt that December 2022 is a month to celebrate engaging cultural events around the globe.
Including Yayoi Kusama and Valentino in Doha, a data-based representation of Bulgari’s Serpenti jewellery in London, and a previously unseen collection of 17th and 18th century paintings in Milan, we’ve curated the most compelling global exhibitions this month. This is your December 2022 cultural crib sheet – taking you from London to New York, Italy, Tokyo, Doha, and beyond – compiled by Citizen Femme.
1. Serpenti Metamorphosis By Refik Anadol
Presented by Bulgari, this is the second display of Refik Anadol’s immersive artwork, the first seen in Piazza del Duomo, Milan. The Turkish-American new media artist uses data-based, machine-learning algorithms to create his art and, at the Saatchi Gallery in London until 23 December 2022, will be showcasing the technique to highlight and represent Bulgari’s Serpenti jewellery, in celebration of the collection’s 75th anniversary. The AI and AR used by Anadol in this immersive journey takes viewers through various iterations of the Bulgari snake-like designs used in their watches, bracelets, necklaces, and more. As part of the immersive experience, the digital art will be complemented by fragrances from the brand.
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2. Christian Dior: Designer Of Dreams
After a Paris debut in 2017, followed by successive shows in London, Shanghai, Chengdu, New York, and Doha, Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams is coming to Tokyo. Here, it will commemorate the 70th anniversary of Dior, exploring the ties between the house and Japanese culture. Held at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (MOT) this show is part retrospective – featuring haute couture and accessories from the Raf Simons and Yves Saint Laurent periods (among others) – and part forward-looking, with an unseen scenographic perspective by Japanese architect, Shohei Shigematsu. The exploration of Dior will be shown alongside some of the museum’s own collections, and photographs by Yuriko Takagi.
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3. Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Rooms And My Soul Blooms Forever
Yayoi Kusama has perhaps become as famous for the hard-to-get tickets and long entrance lines to her exhibitions as for her work itself. Infinity Rooms at The Tate Modern is showing until June 2023, allowing you a few more months to get your hands on a ticket to her dazzling displays. Perhaps better still is the opportunity to take in nine of her more well-known works, including the Dancing Pumpkin (2020) and the Narcissus Garden (1966) in Qatar’s capital city, Doha, this month. The exhibition, My Soul Blooms Forever sponsored by Louis Vuitton, is the largest outdoor exhibition of its kind in the region, taking place in the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) park, one of Doha’s most popular outdoor meeting spaces. It’s free for residents of the GCC, and just 10 Qatari Riyals (about £2) to non-residents (yes, really!)
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4. Forever Valentino
It’s no surprise that Qatar is host to a significant collection of exhibitions this month, including football retrospectives, sound and photographic installations, and an exploration of modern Qatari architecture, among many others. But it’s Forever Valentino that has caught our eye. Not only is it the brand’s first presentation in the Middle East, it’s their largest to date, too. Paying homage to Valentino Garavani (the exhibition coincides with his 90th birthday), expect to see more than 200 Valentino haute couture and pret-à-porter outfits alongside accessories, rarely-seen pieces designed for Elizabeth Taylor, Jacqueline Kennedy, Julia Roberts, Lady Gaga, and more, as well as poignant archives and memories from the Maison’s history. The opening night was attended by members of the Qatari Royal family, Janet Jackson, Naomi Campbell, and Halima Aden, so, a visit here is one that keeps good company.
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5. WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: The World Of ASMR
A much loved Instagram and TikTok hashtag #ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) is being brought back to an off-screen life at London’s Design Museum. ASMR, a ‘pleasant tingling feeling that some people experience on their skin, especially on the head and neck when they hear certain soft sounds’ [Oxford English Dictionary], manifests itself in this exhibition via the sounds of a brush rubbing against a microphone, a dog having its fur cut, Bjork deconstructing a TV, and more. According to ASMRtists, the sensation appears in different people from different sounds. This is as good a place as any to begin exploring what your sensory triggers are.
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6. Edward Hopper’s New York
The Whitney Museum of American Art in New York is home to the largest collection of Edward Hopper’s art, so it’s no surprise that they are host to a showcase of his work, or that it will focus on his home for six decades (and The Whitney’s for nine), The Big Apple. Home town aside, Hopper and The Whitney have a great shared history; the museum hosted his first ever solo show, back in 1920. The 2022/2023 show displays over 200 of his works depicting New York via paintings, sketches, notebooks, photographs, and ephemera, ranging from his early work through to some of his last. Hopper had an enduring fascination with this city and his work tends to reflect the quieter side of it; certainly the skyscrapers that pushed their way into the sky during his years as an artist were largely ignored in favour of dedicating his brush to the city’s unsung corners. At The Whitney today, those corners come alive.
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7. La Seduzione Del Bello Capolavori Segreti Tra ‘600 e ‘700
The title of this Italian exhibition translates to The seduction of beauty. Secret masterpieces between the 17th and 18th centuries, and is a display of previously unseen work from the private collection of 19th century art collectors, Gilda and Giuseppe Gastaldi Rotelli. This is a rare occasion to admire works from Italian masters of the 17th and 18th centuries, exploring not only the individual stories and themes of the paintings, but also that of their collectors. The exhibition is housed inside the Museo Bagatti Valsecchi, a somewhat hidden 16th century family palace-turned-museum, on one of the side streets in Milan’s Quadrilatero d’Oroside high-end shopping district.
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