#hello_monaco weekend: what to do on July 16th and July 17th

This weekend in Monaco can offer you various art forms: from paintings and sculpture to dance and music. And here are a few suggestions for you.

Monaco Art Week returned this week and will offer a new artistic journey in the Principality.

The event is part of a dense cultural calendar during this period, benefiting from the dynamism of the artmonte-carlo fair, as well as the numerous summer exhibitions on the French Riviera.

Monaco Art Week will offer the opportunity to discover the various exhibitions organised by the participating galleries and auction houses.

From La Condamine to Larvotto, via Monte Carlo, visitors will find works by artists from different periods: Italian Renaissance masterpieces at the Moretti Fine Art gallery; modern and contemporary masters, fine jewellery and Luxury items for collectors, at the Sotheby’s auction house; transgressive works by American artist Paul McCarthy, presented by Hauser & Wirth gallery; modern sculptures, often monumental, installed outdoors for the Monaco Sculptures sale by Artcurial, in partnership with Monte-Carlo SBM; modern masters such as Pablo Picasso and contemporary artists including Hilary Pecis and Shara Hughes, gathered in the exhibition The Great Indoors presented by Christie’s auction house; design and abstract and figurative art from Bastian Gallery in the magnificent Monaco villa of Lenzwerk Monaco; century-old olive-tree sculptures by the Uruguayan artist Pablo Atchugarry, presented by Galerie Adriano Ribolzi; paintings by outstanding masters and contemporary artists at Opera Gallery’s Monaco Masters Show; paintings from the Apocalypse collection by Franco-German artist Eric Massholder, and SmartVerum’s innovative project that combines the world of fine and digital art at Kamil Art Gallery; photographs by French environmentalist Yann Arthus-Bertrand at Bel’Art Fine Art; recent works by English artist Adam Bricusse at G&M Design; Analytical Paintings by Italian artist Paolo Masi, at NM Contemporary in collaboration with Frittelli arte contemporanea, Florence.

Reflecting on current trends, Musée Collection des Arts, CADAF, Magdalena M. Gabriel and MetaVRse, will host “The Web 3.0: Art Talks” – an insider look at collecting, curating, and investing in digital art and NFTs, together with an exhibition to remember Josephine and Napoleon most intimate art.

L’Été Danse – Evening of 3 Choreographies are on stage of the Grimaldi Forum Monaco.

On the programme: “Back on Track 61” by Jean-Christophe Maillot, “Claude Pascal” by Jirí Kylián, and “Casi Casa” by Mats Ek, organised by the Ballets de Monte-Carlo.

The climax of this edition of “L’Été Danse!” this “3 Choreographers” evening offers the most relevant panel that current dance has to offer. It also reflects the spirit which has driven Jean-Christophe Maillot since his appointment 30 years ago as Choreographer-Director of Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo: inviting other choreographers to take advantage of the tremendous tool that this company of 50 dancers represents. In this way several have become faithful friends, such as Jirí Kylián and Mats Ek. Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo are to date among the best performers of their repertoire. The three choreographers whose work is performed during this evening share a commitment to the classical vocabulary each of them has mastered in their own way, to bring it into line with a contemporary problem.

Fans of classical music will enjoy the 17th Monaco International Organ Festival –“L’orgue du titan”, based on a story by George Sand, read by Guillaume Gallienne, with organ improvisation by Naji Hakim is organised by the Department of Cultural Affairs in collaboration with the Théâtre Princesse Grace on Sunday 17 July 2022, at 5 pm, in the Cathédrale de Monaco.

There are several new interesting exhibitions in Monaco. Christian Louboutin – The Exhibition[ist], revisited by curator Olivier Gabet, Director of the Museum of Decorative Arts, will offer a brand new perspective following an earlier exhibition at the Palais de la Porte Dorée in Paris in 2020 from Saturday 9 July to Sunday 28 August 2022, from 10 am to 8 pm, and Tuesday and Thursday evenings until 10 pm in the Grimaldi Forum Monaco.

The set design being prepared for Monaco will encompass 2,000 m² and unveil previously unseen works tied to the designer’s Monegasque inspirations as well as new collaborations, including a unique project being developed with British artist Allen Jones.

At the heart of the exhibition, the “Musée Imaginaire” room will bring together items from Louboutin’s personal collection and historic and artistic works borrowed from public and private collections, including from Monegasque museums. It will explore various themes in the designer’s work such as his love of dance and the legacy of the Ballets Russes, his passion for African art and Asia, the pop influence of Warhol, the photographic genius of Helmut Newton, and his fascination with oceanography.

The exhibition will present exclusive collaborations by Louboutin such as the stained glass created by the Maison du Vitrail, a silver Sevillian palanquin, and a cabaret sculpted in Bhutan. Visitors will also discover the designer’s various projects with artists such as the photography of director David Lynch, the video work of Lisa Reihana, the leather sculptures of English designers Whitaker Malem, the choreography of Blanca Li, and the work of artist Imran Qureshi, as well as an immersive space dedicated to sculptor and painter Allen Jones created especially with him for this exhibition.

Another exhibition is “Le Chat Déambule” by the Belgian artist Philippe Geluck, organised by the Department of Cultural Affairs from Tuesday 5 July to Sunday 2 October 2022, Esplanade du Larvotto.

“Christian Bérard, Excentrique Bébé” continues the NMNM programme of exhibitions dedicated to the revolutionary aesthetics developed by Serge Diaghilev in Monte-Carlo. Heralding certain aspects of contemporary art, the cross-disciplinary approach taken by the founder of the Ballets Russes brought radical transformation to the decorative arts during the 1910s and ’20s and had a lasting influence on visual and performance art to this day.

Watch whales and dolphins from Monaco, and share one of the most exclusive experiences on the French Riviera on Sunday July 10, 2022, Port of Monaco. Supervised by certified professionals, it is with the greatest respect for the environment that you will be invited to discover the large marine mammals of the PELAGOS sanctuary.

©Ilan Dehe – “The Purpose of the Journey”

The Center of National Monuments welcomes you to the Villa Kérylos, Beaulieu-sur-Mer, France at the exhibition «En rêvant la Méditerranée» (“Dreaming of the Mediterranean”), by Antoine Pierini from May 8th to Septembre 18th, 2022.

Thousands of years old, the craft of glass has come to us from antiquity. Today, innumerable objects in glass make up our everyday life, while only a few of make it to the level which we would consider to be a work of art. Antoine Pierini, designer, glass artist, and inheritor of a savoir-faire transmitted from father to son, evokes a voyage across the sea and across time in an intimate epic that he has specifically created for the Villa Kérylos.

His amphoras in colored glass, whole or fragmented, coinhabit at the heart of the Villa Kérylos with those of antiquity, covered in a hoary concretion and who act as witnesses to the shipwrecks in a sea who has rested untamed all these millennia.

In this sensitive odyssey of glass and color, Antoine Pierini hands over his emotions born from unique experiences and communal memories. Each work carries within itself the richness of history, the strength of sensations, and not only is each an invitation to voyage into the Mediterranean, but also an invitation to dream of it.

Of course there are other interesting events taking place in Monaco. If you want to learn more about them visit our Calendar.

So have fun and enjoy your weekend!