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A RUNDOWN OF NEWS AND THINGS THAT INTRIGUE US FROM THE WORLDS OF ART AND CULTURE, ALL HANDPICKED FOR THE ROYAL BOROUGH RESIDENT

Gentlemen’s Bookmaker

Fitzdares, the ‘world’s finest bookmaker’ has recently launched an amazing pocket book called a ‘Guide to Excellent Living in London’ for the most discerning gentleman,written most mysteriously by fictional character William Wolfe. The book cherry picks over one hundred of the best venues, shops and services in the Big Smoke today. It celebrates those bastions of London that still keep alive craftsmanship and excellent service and is neatly sub-divided into three user-friendly sections: Morning, Noon and Night, including everything from dry cleaners and cobblers to nightclubs and hotels. The book is available for purchase from The Fitzdares Club, Jeeves of Belgravia and Gentleman’s Journal for £14.99.

www.fitzdares.co.uk

People’s Kitchen

Laylow on Golborne Road is proud to support ‘People’s Kitchen: To Your Door’, an initiative run by Goldfinger to provide free meals and doorstep chats to the vulnerable. Laylow has helped Goldfinger deliver 5,000 meals to vulnerable individuals since 2020. Originally conceived as an emergency response to the Covid-19 outbreak, the service has been so successful that it continues and hopes to deliver over 10,000 meals to the vulnerable over the next six months. People’s Kitchen also strive to tackle loneliness and food poverty caused by the pandemic and as a community-orientated business, are dedicated to helping isolated residents in and around the North Kensington area. www.laylow.co.uk

Sir Alfred Munnings – A Life of His Own

Sir. Alfred Munnings is now considered one of the most important English artists of the 20th century, and as far as equestrian painters are concerned, probably himself and Stubbs are the top two. The British Sporting Art Trust are doing a Munnings retrospective, including loans from The Household Cavalry, The Harewood House Trust , and the Jockey Club. Munnings is increasingly respected and admired for his subjects including the rural life of East Anglia, gypsies, farm labourers, the market place, the horse fair, the pet pony and the comfortable country folk at their leisure. The rare retrospective will be open to view at The Osborne Studio Gallery 26 April to 14 May and The National Horseracing Museum Newmarket 24 May to 12 June. Son of a Suffolk miller, Munnings rose to become a country gentleman, at home in the grandest society, and one of England’s greatest twentieth century artists. www.osg.uk.com www.bsat.co.uk

Sensating Stress Away

Sensate’s is a state-of-the-art sensory device and audio app sending ripples of calmness through the UK. It was developed as a palm-size stress-busting wearable audio app, which uses infrasonic waves to resonate through the body. It is an immersive experience wherein the app includes soundscapes that are synchronised to the vibrations that the device emits. It is placed on the chest and targets the vagus nerve to facilitate relaxation and improved resilience to stress. Founder, Stefan Chmelik, has meditated for over 45 years and has 30 years of experience in the medical industry. With his expertise, Sensate have designed a state-of-the-art sensory device and audio app designed to calm our fight-flight-freeze response through non-invasive sound vibration technology. The latest version of the product, Sensate 2, provides an immersive experience. The device emits infrasonic waves, which are synchronised and in harmony with specifically composed soundscape sessions, available on the Sensate App which is free to download.

www.getsensate.com

With over 100 exhibiting galleries from across the globe, the Fair includes returning galleries such as Richard Green, James Hyman, and Purdy Hicks, along with a range of new and international exhibitors and highly regarded curated spaces. The Fair will feature worldrenowned artists Henry Moore, David Hockney, Bridget Riley, and Paula Rego. The Fair has also announced their daily programme of in-depth panel talks, specialised tours, workshops, and performances that provide key insights into the latest trends emerging within the art market. This year will also see the introduction of a hybrid programme of both online and in-person panel discussions before and during the Fair. www.londonartfair.co.uk

LEON on King’s

Naturally Fast Food brand LEON has opened a new site on King’s Road in Chelsea. The site will feature 18 internal seats and is proud to have generated 25 job vacancies. Glenn Edwards, Managing Director said: “We are delighted to be opening our first LEON on the King’s Road, a celebrated neighbourhood which appeals to locals and tourists alike. It’s a privilege to open anywhere people gather and have a passion for food that tastes good and does good! We’ve had our eye on this site since before the pandemic, so to be able to make it happen with the support from EG Group is exciting.” Guests will find all the usual LEON favourites such as Carbon Neutral Burgers, Grilled Wraps, delicious breakfast and all-day options, as well some exciting new for 2022 additions to the menu, including the Vegan Everyday Dahl and Jerk N’ Jam Chicken Wrap. LEON King’s Road will also be participating in the Cadogan VIP card scheme and offering 15% off to all King’s Road neighbours.

www.leon.co

Gems from the Oceans

Bee Goddess’ stunning Aqua Light Collection is available from their boutique in Walton Street and from their store within Harrods. Water being the source of life, the brand believes that various symbols of the sea are a tribute to feminine energy and help us connect with spiritual rebirth, creativity, and initiation into new life, through the power of intuition and emotional intelligence. Composed of precious gems including blue and white diamonds, emeralds and blue topaz, which are set in 14K gold, Bee Goddess’ Aqua Light collection brings together earth and water elements to balance our ability to give and receive, to work and play. The symbols of Aqua Light encourage inner healing through empathy and caring and help free all blocked emotions. Each talisman brings forward the themes of soothing, pampering, and relaxing the mind to inspire a feeling of calm and joy. The collection includes the symbols of Oyster, Turtle, Star Fish and Seahorse, each bringing their own unique light and enlightenment to the wearer.

www.beegoddess.com

Luxury Residences in Algarve

Forming part of the stunning Quinta do Lago in The Algarve and celebrating its fiftieth anniversary this year, the award-winning golf resort and all year round sun-haven is proud to add One Green Way Residences to its portfolio of luxury properties and developments for sale. Launching in April 2022, One Green Way Residences is the latest in an exceptional collection of Quinta do Lago Real Estate’s standalone private villa estates and apartments. Curving alongside Quinta do Lago’s North Course with breath-taking views over Ria Formosa Natural Park and the Mediterranean, the gated community features 89 luxury serviced state-of-the-art residences – comprised of 62 apartments and 27 villas. Each sustainability led residence evokes the warmth and tranquillity of a life lived under the sun with generous living space inside and out, ranging from 380 m2 to 925 m2 per plot. Prices start from €2.75M with the additional benefits of being on an award-winning five-star luxury resort.

www.quintadolago.com

Manthan, the recently opened Mayfair restaurant from critically acclaimed Chef Rohit Ghai of Kutir in Chelsea, has launched a new brunch menu of innovative Indian sharing plates. Served everyday from 12.30pm to 5pm, the new menu features signature dishes including Chicken Buttermilk with pink peppercorn, ginger and curry leaf, Kerala prawn curry and Malpua Rabri (pistachio, saffron, pancake) alongside a vegetarian menu offering dishes including the Paneer Malai, Chholey Bhature (fermented bread, chickpea, pickle), and the Classical Trio (Laddoo, Gulab Jamun, Srikhand). To drink, guests can sip on one of Manthan’s signature cocktails the Mango and date bellini or Sangam chi spice infused white rum with tandoori pineapple and tikki bitters.

https://www.manthanmayfair.co.uk

Grow2Know @RHSCFS

Unique social enterprise Grow2Know is making its debut at RHS Chelsea Flower Show this year – with an installation that provokes much-needed debate around racial and climate injustice. Founded in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire, Grow2Know is a non-profit organisation that showcases the power gardening has to heal and unify. Its garden, entitled ‘Hands Off Mangrove by Grow2Know’ is inspired by the infamous story of the Mangrove Nine defendants in 1970s Notting Hill, as well as the deforestation of Mangrove forests globally. Creating a long-lasting legacy, the garden will be relocated from the showgrounds in Chelsea to a community space in North Kensington once the show has concluded. https://grow2know.org.uk/

Metro Bank Magic Money Campaign

Metro Bank’s London stores - including Fulham Broadway, Tottenham Court Road, High Street Kensington, Kings Road, Putney and Piccadilly – have collectively raised £1,825.05 for Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity. Throughout December, customers, colleagues and visitors to the London stores donated via the in store coin counter Magic Money Machine or via cashless donations by scanning the QR code on the ‘magic’ gold coins found on the tree in store. “Thank you to everyone who helped us raise £1,825.05, especially considering what a difficult year it was,” commented Dan Byron, Holborn Metro Bank’s Store Manager. “Charities have been hugely impacted by the pandemic and as a community bank, we hope that this donation will help make a difference in the lives of local children and their families”. Great Ormond Street Hospital opened its doors in 1852 and is one of the world’s leading hospitals supporting children and young adults with complex illnesses. https://www.metrobankonline.co.uk/

Tanzanian Feminist at Richard Saltoun

Everlyn Nicodemus is doing her first solo exhibition in London in over 15 years ar The Richard Saltoun Gallery. The exhibition brings together a selection of large-scale paintings & works on paper spanning 40 years of the artist’s career, including unseen paintings from The Wedding (1991-92) series. An artist and writer, Everlyn Nicodemus is one of the strongest feminist voices to emerge from Eastern Africa in the past 50 years. Across her career, she has made paintings, assemblages, collaged ‘books’, photographs, and poems. Her powerful works draw on personal trauma and her ordeal with PTSD to explore poignant topics like systematic discrimination, human suffering, the marginalisation of women throughout history and the role that art can play in healing. In the run up to the exhibition, National Portrait gallery has just acquired a self-portrait by Everlyn Nicodemus, the first by a black female artist to enter the museum’s collection.

www.richardsaltoun.com

Buzzy beachfront restaurant, The Hut, nestled in the heart of Colwell Bay, reopened in March 2022 for their 9th season, putting long lunches and alfresco dining back on the menu. Having established itself as the UK’s most iconic coastal destination, The Hut has built an impressive reputation as the island’s hotspot with its and chic casual dining, a delicious menu with the freshest of ingredients plus live DJs. It’s the place to see one of the best sunsets in the UK with spectacular panoramic ocean views that stretch across the Solent. New Head Chef, Lucian Romocea, is bringing his Catalan cooking style to dishes from his experience working as a chef in Barcelona.He’ll work under Ian Daw, Chef Director, both formerly of The Ned. They’ll be launching a new menu, with a selection of lighter style dishes packed with tons of flavour, including ‘Seared Seabass with Maitake Dashi, Yuzu Kosho, Pak Choi and Monks Beard’ and the Gambas a la Cazuela, with Chorizo, and Piquello Pepper Ragu’. Located on the north western coast of the Isle of Wight The Hut is the perfect spot for seaside dining and day trips from the UK - it’s just 1hr 30mins from Central London.. www.thehutcolwell.co.uk

Thousand Year Old Buddha Statue Recovered

An 8th- 9th Century Bodhisattva sculpture, looted from The Devisthan Kundalpur Temple in Kurkihar, Bihar, India, has been recovered in Italy by Art Recovery International following a decades-long search. Kurkihar, near the most sacred city of Gaya, was a well-known Buddhist pilgrimage centre between the 9th and 12th centuries and as a site, has yielded over 226 bronzes famously called the Kurkihar hoard. Many more stone and bronze sculptures from the site have been plundered to fuel the international black market in antiquities. Art Recovery’s Christopher A. Marinello located the missing sculpture and negotiated an unconditional release from an anonymous Italian collector just before Christmas. This is the second major recovery of Indian cultural heritage in the past 4 months for the joint efforts of Art Recovery International and the India Pride Project, following the successful repatriation of an 8th-century Goat Head Yogini statue from a garden in the English countryside in December 2021. https://www.artrecovery.com/

Philharmonia Orchestra announces 2022-23 Season

The Philharmonia Orchestra announced the first half of its new season as Resident Orchestra at London’s Southbank Centre and residency at Edinburgh International Festival (EIF) this summer. Key highlights will include Principal Conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali conducting ten performances in London, and opening the season with Mahler’s fifth and first symphonies, Cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason as the Orchestra’s Featured Artist and GRAMMY-nominated composer Anna Clyne as the Philharmonia’s Featured Composer. Elsewhere in the season there is a celebration of Vaughan Williams with The Bach Choir to mark the 150th anniversary of his birth on 17 November, a performance of Handel’s Messiah on 4 December, and the annual ‘Christmas at the Movies’ concert.

https://philharmonia.co.uk/

Tiffany & Co.’s ‘Vision & Virtuosity

Tiffany & Co. presents the “Vision & Virtuosity” exhibition at Saatchi Gallery, bringing over 400 objects from the House’s archives to London. A visual chronicle of the storied jeweller since its founding in New York City in 1837, “Vision & Virtuosity” takes visitors on a journey through everything from archival high jewellery designs, Tiffany’s famed window displays and its recently acquired Empire Diamond of over 80 carats to important relics of popular culture such as the original script from Breakfast at Tiffany’s. It is a celebration of Tiffany’s authority as the purveyor of the world’s finest diamonds and a showcase of how two core values—vision and virtuosity—have guided the House for 185 years. Marking the jeweller’s 150th anniversary in London, “Vision & Virtuosity” debuts at Saatchi Gallery, located in the Duke of York’s Headquarters near Sloane Square, on 10 June 2022, and will run through to 19 August 2022. Tickets will be available to pre-book beginning 2 May 2022, via the app, available on the iOS and Google Play app stores. www.saatchigallery.com tiffany.com