CHRISTMAS CARDS

I have just finished the "tedious job" of writing one hundred plus Christmas cards, though I must say I do enjoy thinking about my friend as I write, especially the ones who don't have email and who I stay in touch with only at Christmas time. But let me tell you my snobbish Christmas card etiquette. First and foremost the cards HAVE to be CHARITY cards, otherwise what is the point, if you don't do a little bit of good, especially during the holiday season. So beware, should you send me a card that isn't a charity one, you will slide down the ladder in my opinion of you! Need I say more?

www.unicef.org

MILANO

ART # 1. Nowhere Gallery. Being Art Basel Miami Beach week, I want to concentrate a little on local talent over here. Orio Vergani is the founder and director of the Nowhere gallery right bang in the heart of Milan. This young man has a "heavy load" to carry as he comes from one of the oldest and most respected families of Italian journalists. His father, Guido, like his grandfather before him, who had the same name - Orio Vergani - were very famous and Orio senior was said to be ".....a curious person. Curious of everything. He possessed the curiosity, vice and virtue characteristic of journalists, who love first to know and then to go deeper, that is to analyze, dissect, understand." And it is after his grandfather that young Orio takes after, though his chosen field is art and not journalism. His gallery is called Nowhere, because at the beginning he didn't have an exhibition space and would show his artists in galleries belonging to friends. Orio has a good eye for talent regardless of style and, as you can image his artists are nearly all young and unknown until he launches them and - wait for it - next year he will be showing the works of Alessandro Rolandi at the 3rd annual China International Gallery Exposition (CIGE) in Beijing. Watch out, because there are no boundaries for Orio, he is certainly going places.

Nowhere Gallery - Via della Moscova 15 - 02 6552822 www.nowhere-gallery.com

VENICE
Peggy Guggenheim Collection. This photo from the series "The Walls of Venice" by Manfredi Bellati really stood out at the exhibition "Il Diaframma" of Lanfranco Colombo, Masters of Photography (till January 8, 2006), because it was the only unpredictable and abstract photo in the whole exhibition. But, who is Lanfranco Colombo??? He is the man who opened in 1967 Il Diaframma (The Aperture) in Milan, the worlds' first private gallery to focus exclusively on photography. The gallery has shown Italian and International photographers, such as Giovanni Gastel, Mario De Biasi, Gianni Berengo Gardin, Oliviero Toscani who were well-established artists in their own right, while others such as Gabriele Basilico and Giuseppe Pino, made their debut within the exhibition space of Il Diaframma. The images presented in this exhibition range between works of reportage, portraiture, naturalistic photography, fashion and still life. And to conclude, Manfredi says "I would have loved for Peggy Guggenheim to have seen my abstract photographs, she would have been intrigued by them, as she promoted abstract expressionism and launched Jackson Pollock's first solo show in 1943."

www.guggenheim-venice.it

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MILANO

From luxury shopping to pop-up retailing. Ape Malandra is a mobile clothing store that sells classic and stylish clothes in beautiful fabrics for women and children designed by Valeria Ferlini on the street. The changing room is improvised with a hula-hoop and two curtains, and the cashmere sweaters are made by the prisoners of San Vittore in Milan. The store has three wheels: it's housed in an Ape Piaggio, made by the same family as the Vespa. You can also spot an Ape or "bee" in the streets of Rome and Florence or in the chic resorts of Cortina in the wintertime and Forte dei Marmi in the summertime. Beware, because the Ape is sure to "sting" your wallet!

Ape Malandra - tel +39 340 4011558 or evatroppan@hotmail.com

ROMAGNANO SESIA

Dear Friends, this is one of the most precious addresses I can give you! Though it looks like a boutique hotel lobby it is, in fact, the entrance to the Loro Piana outlet. Unless, you didn't know, Loro Piana is the largest quality cashmere manufacturer and the biggest single purchaser of the world's finest wools. And, anybody can go to stock up on their famous cashmere goods for men, women and children, along with fabrics, home furnishing, accessories, and gifts. Open 24/7 this luxury outlet is very well organized and the abundant sales staff very efficient, there is also an area with the current collection and a coffee shop. Though the prices are not exactly cheap, it is well worth a visit. I am told that some of their most sophisticated and demanding clients arrive by plane at nearby Malpensa Airport where a chauffeur driven car is waiting to accompany them to this outlet!

LORO PIANA - Punto Vendita Aziendale - Via per Novara 482 - Romagnano Sesia (Novara) - tel +39 0163 826875 - retailing@loropiana.it - www.loropiana.com

MILANO

Premio "Il Ponte" 2005 - is the bridge between business and non-profit organizations. This year this prestigious prize, initiated two years ago by Carla Venosta in memory of her husband Guido Venosta was appropriately awarded, in the international year of microcredit, to Professor Muhammad Yunus for his work to overcome poverty. Know as "banker to the poor", Professor Yunus started the Grameen Bank which Provides credit to the poorest of the poor in rural Bangladesh without any collateral.

www.fondazionevenosta.it

NYC NOVEMBER - TUESDAY

The Rubin Museum of Art. I wanted to leave New York (and you) with a beautiful image and here is the Red Wolf-Headed Mistress of Dakinis (Tibet 19th C.) painting from The Rubin Musuem of Art. I had forty-five minutes before lunch and before going to the airport, so I dashed across the street and walked into the old Barney's building in Chelsea where the six-story spiral staircase, which Andree Putman originally designed, centers the exhibition space. The collection consists of paintings, sculptures, and textiles that range in date over two millennia, most reflect major periods and schools of Himalayan art from the 12th century onward. The exhibitions are organized with particular care to assist viewers who are new to Himalayan art. Wall texts and interpretive panels supply aesthetic, social, and historical perspectives to both scholars and casual viewers. As I zipped through the museum I realized that I have to come back and spend a few hours and maybe have lunch in the cafe', because it's so interesting and the art is beautiful...I think it might, just, become my favorite museum in NEW YORK CITY?

www.rmanyc.org

NYC NOVEMBER - TUESDAY

Shopping on the streets of NYC. It's time to go home, back to Italy ....No, this is not our mode of transport to the airport, but it would have come in handy with all the luggage. The Caravan shop changes location every day - uptown, downtown, east side, west side, this traveling clothes store, brings mostly independent, designer labels to wherever the shopper may be. It is equipped with all the mod cons, like air conditioning, changing area, video screens showing runway shows and more, an armoire is filled with vintage pieces as well as the sexy film star and rock star inspired merchandise. "It's like a sleek sophisticated department store without the attitude." says Claudine Gumbel, who developed the concept with her husband Brian. Have you seen it yet on the corner of your street? If not log on to the caravan locator to see when the Caravan Shop will be next near you.

www.shopcaravan.com

photograph courtesy Tiffany & Co.
NYC OCTOBER - MONDAY

Hulaween #2. The Divine Bette Midler co-celebrated her 60th birthday with the 10th Anniversary of the New York Restoration Project - a group that she founded to clean and green NYC -The festivities took place during the annual "Hulaween" (she is from Hawaii) fundraiser for NYRP at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. At the gala, Sting and Trudie Styler were honored for their environmental work, Sir Elton John performed and Martin Short served as auctioneer for the "live" celebrity auction lots. Miss Midler is the founding icon of the Restoration Project and her latest achievement is The Family Garden, sponsored by the Tiffany & Co Foundation, it's the transformation of a forlorn tract of land on 114th Street to the north of Jefferson Park into an alluring garden. Seen here with her at the opening ceremony are Robert De Niro, who cut the ribbon with a gigantic pair of sissors, Glen Close who recited the poem Spring by Gertrude Jekyll and Tiffany's design director, John Loring - THE JACK of all trades that are esthetic - who landscaped the garden and designed it's furniture. Mr. Loring took his inspiration from the Thomas Jefferson Park which is just across the street. He has created a beautiful garden by replicating the Jefferson head that is on the nickel on the backs of the steel chairs and has reproduced some of the landscape of Monticello. It is really worth a visit.

www.nyrp.org

NYC OCTOBER - TUESDAY

Halloween #1. I'm not very fond of Halloween, because I didn't grow up with it and also I'm not very keen on dressing up in costume. So, my contribution to Halloween is a recipe for gnocchi that I had the other evening at my friend and cook book author, Susan Simon's apartment. The delicious meal was cooked by Ron Suhanosky owner of the best Italian restaurant, Sfoglia, on Nantucket, who, with his wife Colleen will be opening another restaurant in NYC on the upper east side. Naturally, pumpkin being one of the "icons" of Halloween, this Gnocchi di Zucca recipe is very appropriate. Here is my vague interpretation: make gnocchi (look up the recipe) use about 1/3 of cooked mashed pumpkin with about 2/3 mashed potatoes - dice a lot of extra pumpkin and saute in a pan with a bit of butter and crushed sage, then add lots of poppy seeds - seperately boil the gnocchi until they float up to the top, mix them in the pan with the sauteed pumpkins, adjust seasoning and serve - delicious!