Arts & travel

INTRO / Frames Forward

INTRO announces their Athens eyewear event which takes place on 22nd to 24th January 2022 – this weekend! 10 eyewear brands including fabulous Lapima, as well as John Dalia and Lesca will be participating at the Blind Beggar lounge, a fashionable cocktail lounge in the centre of the city. The event will be held as trade only – for independent opticians with an interest in seeing new releases from high-quality and  established and emerging labels – unique collections that are inspiring and beautifully made.

Event co-organiser Maria Angeloudi told Eyestylist the show will be organized in a creative way that will highlight the collections and communicate them through a social gathering in a pleasant and cool Athens hot spot.

In the climate of pandemic and travel disruption, small events with an intimate aspect that ensure opticians can see collections close up continue to be an ongoing trend. INTRO was launched by female entrepeneurs Maria Angeloudi and Natalia Klimi in 2020. We look forward to our visit there shortly!

Venue: The Blind Beggar, Atrium Center, Charilaou Trikoupi 6-10 Athens, Greece. For more information on INTRO visit : https://www.introshow.gr/

Paris, France: SILMO trade fair reconfirms for live show in September – an edition designed for ‘renewal and reunion’ of the entire industry

One of the optical industry’s key annual international events – which attracts a large number of international eyewear companies and a wide selection of independent brands and creative designers including young and emerging eyewear labels, looks set to take place in September 2021 – at the Parc des Expositions Paris Nord Villepinte. The fair organisers have stated in July that ‘nearly 500 companies from 32 countries have registered for the live event.’

Last year the regular event was unable to go ahead at the Paris Nord site owing to Covid restrictions and a smaller version of the show took place in central Paris and in some locations in France in an unprecendented change to the calendar and a ‘roadshow’ format entitled “Silmo hors Les Murs”. Above: SILMO 2019 at Parc des Expositions: a memorable occasion and the 25th anniversary of Silmo D’Or Awards: pre-Covid-19

The format of the 2021 fair will follow that of previous years prior to the pandemic, with special areas such as the SILMO NEXT space and the SILMO d’Or awards and presentation event. Comfort and safety will be at the top of the organisers’ agenda, with health protocols being observed and reinforced according to the French administrative authorities, although attendees will be able to explore the trade fair freely without making an appointment in advance – in an event that promises real hope as a driver of recovery and renewal for the sector at a global level.

The SILMO fair is due to take place on 24th to 27th September 2021. Eyestylist looks forward to meeting will friends, designers and sponsors in person once again during the event. (Contact us for further details or to share your updates and previews at [email protected]).

Click on the link here to register for SILMO 2021: https://en.silmoparis.com

Looking forward…live art in 2021

As museums struggle through difficulties of closures and a lack of tourists, the highly acclaimed Guggenheim in Bilbao reminded us of how much we have missed and are missing visiting galleries and museums. Like many other museums around the world, the closure of the Guggenheim for almost three months, and the subsequent mobility restrictions, reduced the number of visitors to the Museum (to 315.908 people)  despite massive support of their digital initiatives.

In 2020, as in other arts organisations across the world, the digital presence of the Museum increased considerably in order to alleviate to some extent the impossibility of enjoying live art, and the results they say were very satisfactory. During the Spring quarantine when the Museum was required to close to the public, the digital initiative #GuggenheimBilbaoLive was launched, through which a total of 55 videos were made about the exhibitions and lesser-known aspects of the Museum activity, along with storytellers and artist workshops for children. In total, these videos achieved 2.3 million views on the Museum’s social media and generated a total of 90,000 very positive user interactions! Above: Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

Meanwhile, the Museum has maintained the highest quality in its Art Program and today the doors are open for Lee Krasner: Living Color (to 10th January 2021) and the retrospective dedicated to Kandinsky – running until 23rd May 2021. Drawn primarily from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, this is a comprehensive exhibition which traces along four geographic sections the aesthetic evolution of one of the foremost artistic innovators of the early 20th century.

If you’d like to find out more or review what’s happening online at the Guggenheim Bilbao in the next months, visit their website at www.guggenheim-bilbao.eus and lend your support! Follow the Guggenheim on Instagram @museoguggenheim. We look forward to bringing you more updates in our Arts & Travel column just as soon as the pandemic is under control.

Image above (full details): Vasily Kandinsky – Several Circles (Einige Kreise) January-February 1926 Oil on canvas – 55 1/4 x 55 3/8 inches (140.3 x 140.7 cm) Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York Solomon R. Guggenheim Founding Collection, By gift © [current year] Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris Painting Bauhaus