Arts and Culture

Featuring Adora Mba - On her new art gallery, ADA \...

African art is on the rise and the Director and Founder of ADA, Adora Mba, tells The Sybarite about the importance of raising artists profiles in Ghana, trends in African art and why she is championing female artists in her first year as gallerist. 

Featuring The sculpture park – the perfect escape for art lovers

From the 1st July they reopened their doors after 2 months and for a business that is normally open every day of the year (yes, even Christmas day) they have leapt at the chance to get all hands on deck and enhance the surroundings ready for the big reopening. The team of committed staff has gone above and beyond to transform the landscape to showcase a plethora of mesmerising new artworks. In this magical kingdom they have over 300 renowned and emerging artists showcasing over 650 modern and contemporary sculptures. The works are primarily situated outdoors, over a 2 mile woodland trail. There is also a smaller indoor gallery on-site at the park with more work available to view. Most of the collection is available to buy, and collectors travel from all corners of the globe all year round to view the unique and stunning collection of works. The collection is sited within ten acres of stunning arboretum and wildlife inhabited water gardens which have been developed with a series of landscaping projects and the introduction of thousands of new plants, bulbs and specimen trees.

Featuring The Wonder Women brunch

From the recent uncovering of abuse in Hollywood to the discussion of the gender pay gap, women are still fighting for support and an equal voice. Much like the suffragette movement, this is a time of empowerment and a movement for change. Located in the heart of the City, The Sybarite joined other fabulous industry women in the Garden Room at the private members, Devonshire Club, for the Wonder Women Brunch. Hosted by Tamara Gillan CEO of Cherry London, together with Stylist Editor-in-Chief Lisa Smosarski, an impressive panel of women, each successful in the respective fields, assembled to demonstrate how conversation can be transformed to purposeful action. Arriving to a sea of 100 successful and very glamorous women, I must say, I was a ball of excitement and a little intimidated all at the same time. However, with a glass of champagne in hand and inspirational women all around, the panel were greeted by standing room only.

Review of Hop to the theatre this Easter and enter the magical...

We often read about naughty Peter Rabbit before bed, so when I heard that ‘Where is Peter Rabbit?’ was coming to the Theatre Royal Haymarket I rushed to book tickets.   A theatre-lover at the age of just 4, my little one was enthralled from the start as the stage came alive with the recognisable characters from the books. From Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle to Mr. Tod, animals are expertly anthropomorphised through puppets by the cast whose control over the puppets, while adding individual quirks, draw out every part of the characters, entertaining adults and children alike. The short stories are presented one-by-one, with the audience able to enjoy the tales of Mr. Jeremy Fisher, Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, Mr.Tod, Jemima Puddle-Duck and of course Peter Rabbit come to life on stage. It brought tears to my eyes as I watched my son totally captivated by the magic that was happening on stage.  With Miriam Margolyes narrating the stories of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and Jemima Puddle-Duck, and Griff Rhys-Jones lending his voice to tales of Peter Rabbit and Jeremy Fisher, the musical adventure was provided with a friendly personality and plenty of dimension.

Review of Heartwarming and Unashamedly British - Calendar Girls Review

When the curtain rises we are introduced to the hustle and bustle of the small Yorkshire village, as teenagers run to get the school bus, which is stuck behind a flower lorry from Amsterdam. Arriving through the gate and making their way across stage, the intertwining lives of the rural community thrives as characters laugh and greet their neighbours. There can’t be many people who aren’t familiar with this upbeat, true story about a group of Yorkshire WI members who posed for a nude calendar in aid of a memorial for a friend who had died of cancer and just like the film, the musical features a sizeable cast of well-known faces including Ruth Madoc as Jessie, Sara Crowe as Ruth, Denise Welch as Celia and the brilliant Fern Britton, who returns to the stage for the first time in 30 years as Marie. (I personally still miss seeing her on my TV each morning.)

Haute Couture SS19 highlights

Featuring Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N - The perfect day out for Marvel fans

Last weekend we took our very excited little boy to London Excel, where Marvel have unveiled their latest interactive exhibition. After a brief video introduction and a security scan from Maria Hill, we were invited to enter the S.T.A.T.I.O.N, an advanced training facility for S.H.I.E.L.D’s ace team of agents. Zachary was rather overwhelmed when we first entered and he found himself face to face with the Hulkbuster! So when he got to don Iron Man’s Hulkbuster armour in a very cool and active VR experience he was super excited. As we moved through the rooms he enjoyed the great activities on offer, including various touchscreen games. Highlights for the family also included the massive moving image of Hulk and Captain America’s motorbike from the opening scene of Avengers: Age of Ultron which you could hop on and pretend to ride.

Featuring Stick Man – a must for young theatre goers

At the age of just 2 he sat through an entire performance of The Lion King and ever since then, whenever we tell him we have booked tickets to see a show, he gets very excited. Now 3 and a half years old, he has grown up reading and listening to Julia Donaldson stories and has seen many adaptations of the books at the theatre. So, when I found out Stick Man was back on stage, I couldn’t wait to take him. With his little sister of 6 months in tow (we are starting her young) we headed to Leicester Square Theatre. I love this theatre for children's shows as it is especially intimate, and this really helps the children engage with what they are watching. The story follows Stick Man, who after going for a jog one morning, encounters a bounding dog who wants to play fetch. This sparks a series of unfortunate adventures, which leads him far from home. As the seasons pass Stick Man meets a surprising friend who helps him to the family tree.

Featuring Venice and Liu Bolin: disappearing in Venice

It wasn’t the beautiful symmetry of the Doge Palace’s herringbone walls or the shadowy twin domes of the Basilica of Saint Mary. It was something more humble: the maxi advertising scaffolding wrap of Santa Maria della Pietà church’s façade. Why, oh why? Well, for multiple reasons. Every art, architecture and history lover knows that sinking feeling of seeing a beautiful landmark hidden away under a tarpaulin for what seems like interminable restoration. Sometimes, the building becomes like ghost, enveloped in a bland white plastic flapping endlessly in the wind or, worse still, daubed in some dreary ad for some new washing powder or super fast car. Not so for our Santa Maria ’s wrap I saw. The church, built between 1745 and 1760, sits on the atmospheric promenade along the waterfront few minutes from Saint Mark's Square, and since 2014 it is been undergoing a complex restoration intervention.

Review of Beautiful Sqaurespace Design Kits that Wow

Whether for personal or business purposes, a website becomes the representation of ones personal style and voice. Aside from functionality, the design aspect of any website takes center stage to the point that it has become the driving force behind the engagement with an audience. It is also responsible for the inclination that the audience will interact with your platform. Ultimately, it is the reputation you have in the virtual universe. For us, nothing pleases us more than discovering aesthetical pleasures. There is one such enterprise that revolves around the poetic beauty of what a website can deliver in terms of design and functionality. Presenting Squaremuse – the creative team behind Flothemes, known for their one of a kind WordPress themes. To serve its niche audience and to show their capabilities in web design and style, they have extended their reach to creating design kits for Squarespace compatibility.

Featuring Lapland UK – where magical Christmas memories are made

Their personal invitations were delivered one morning by our elf, and my sons face lit up when he was told that Father Christmas had personally invited him and his sister to help the elves finish building toys for Christmas. With just three more sleeps to go, we prepared by reading the ‘Untold Story of Father Christmas’ written by the creators of Lapland UK, to make sure that he knew all the elves he would be meeting, making the experience even more magical. Lapland UK is deep in the Whitmoor Forest, Ascot, Berkshire, a beautiful part of the Windsor Estate which is managed by the Crown Estate.  It was set up by husband and wife team Alison and Mike Battle, after they felt there was no 'authentic and believable' Christmas offering for families with young children. After approaching the Forestry Commission, they set up the first incarnation of Lapland UK in Tunbridge Wells in 2007, selling 37,000 tickets despite being total 'rookies'. Spurred on by their initial success, the brand has evolved every year and sold sold 75,000 tickets in 2018.

Featuring Bergman interiors showcases beautiful commissioned chess...

Lovers of elegant interiors and stunning furniture additions will surely appreciate this exquisite chess board, recently commissioned by luxury interior design and architect studio Bergman Interiors. Showcasing the very finest in bespoke craftsmanship, this set, priced at £6,250, is bound to catch the eye of any art lover or collector who treasures originality. Exclusively available at Harrods and Bergman Interiors, each hand-sculptured piece has been delicately sketched and is luxurious to touch, with the pieces traditional details transformed into the most minimal form. Intricately built by the hands of careful artisans in Lake Como, Italy, the sleek chess board is a structure of hand-laid marquetry of light and dark veneers, sitting on a 1cm bronze plinth. Player one is finished in brushed solid antique dark bronze, whilst player two is finished with brushed solid antique brass.