Arts & Culture
Originally published on Wednesday, 1st December 2010
The Culturist - DECEMBER
This month our Culturist is taking a wide festive berth in order to embrace everything wintery and Christmassy under our cultural umbrella. There's shopping options for those stuck for original ideas, seasonal events from ski lodges to skating, winter wonderlands at home and on the stage, and the odd bit of art. Just call us Santa. 
FESTIVE: Hostem Advent Calendar
1st – 24th December
41-43 Redchurch Street, E2 7DL
What started as a heavenly little menswear haven is becoming quite the creative hub. Hostem (which morphed into a one-room hotel a few months back) is going all festive with this beautifully crafted twist on an Advent Calendar, a collaboration with local gem Lounge Bohemia. Forget cheap chocolate or mini-tableaux, each door in the Hostem calendar (a reappointed cabinet) contains a super exclusive, limited edition gift from the likes of Ann Demeulemeester, Nike and Chrome Hearts. You can only buy the revealed item on the day, so we recommend popping round the back in-store and checking out what date your favourite drops.
SHOP
Merry Happy Crazy Colour
Now
Dover Street Market, 17-18 Dover Street, W1S 4LT
Ah, nothing says Christmas like a life-sized elephant in the room – at least in the surreal world of Dover Street Market and Comme des Garcons, anyway. The store’s festive window display has been installed alongside artist Stephanie Quayle’s gentle giant under the theme of Merry Happy Crazy Colour. Inspired by the work of ‘assume vivid astro focus’ (a visual and performance artist group), it comes complete with a range of gift-worthy products in all kinds of mad hues. Think mini rucksacks, polka-dot teddies, colourful resin jewellery, paper mache covered perfume bottles and multicoloured patchwork knits, all wrapped in carrier bags featuring the same artwork – better than a bauble any day.
SEE: Covent Garden Hotel Opera & Ballet Sundays
5th-26th December
Covent Garden Hotel, 10 Monmouth Street, WC2H 9HB
Sure, there is the pomp and glory of attending a production at The Royal Opera House – the dress, the drinks, the dramatic little flip-out spectacles... but sometimes we want to do a Cinderella and watch it all from the comfort of our skivvies, cup of tea in hand. Which is why the new Sunday afternoon screenings at the Covent Garden Hotel are right up our alley – take tea in Brasserie Max first, then sink into a performance of La Traviata, La Boheme, The Nutcracker or Carmen in the deeply comfortable leather seating, at a mere £35 per person.
FESTIVE: Skate at Somerset House
Now – 23rd January
Somerset House, The Strand, WC2R 1LA
Apart from hanging out at Tiffany’s tuck shop (and protecting our tuccuses from skate slip-ups) and drinking gourmet hot chocolate at Tom Aikens’ Christmas Skate Lounge, we’re loving Somerset House’s ice rinks above all others for their curated DJ nights. Sure you can skate to Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker (Tuesdays, 3pm-4pm) and make like a sugarplum fairy, OR you could try and work your weekend moves to Pump Up The Volume featuring Alexa Chung, Ministry of Sound, Hairbrush Heroes, Eat Your Own Ears and The Jinks. Double Salco that.
ART: GSK Contemporary
2nd December -30th January, £7
Royal Academy of Arts, 6 Burlington Gardens, W1S 3ET
The Royal Academy’s yearly exhibition of contemporary art takes on the theme of Aware: Art, Fashion, Identity for 2010. Examining the way artists and designers use clothing to express identity, there’ll be work on display from the established likes of Hussein Chalayan (look out for his specially commissioned dress inspired by a 300 year old Japanese tradition), Yohji Yamamoto, Maison Martin Margiela, Grayson Perry and Alexander McQueen, as well as emerging names. Slightly gutted we haven’t caught wind of another temporary Sketch restaurant, but we’ll keep our fingers crossed. ?
PARTY: Swedish Ski Lodge
1st – 24th December
The Well, 180 St John Street, EC1V 4JY
Ah the chalet... if you can’t get to Verbier for your fondue fix, we might have the perfect solution. Popping up in Tom and Ed Martin’s gastropub ‘The Well’ in Clerkenwell is an underground wonderland of glittery reindeer proportions. So of course we’re hooked. Think fake furs, a giant gingerbread house, and party poppers pinging off Christmas firs, Swedish winter hostesses serving schnapps, and snowflakes galore, as well as a few rousing renditions of classic Abba, Ace of Base and Roxette tracks. The space can host up to 70 with exciting canapé options available – and there’s no hire charge. Make it an office must.
FESTIVE: Winter Wonderland
NOW – 4th January
Serpentine Road, W2 2UH
A surprisingly atmospheric hit come Christmas, we love the traditional stalls selling artisanal handicrafts, the fat German bratwurst and Gluhvein on offer, the chance to take a spin in the observation wheel with a loved one, and the Pommery E-Cube. The what now? Ah, head straight for the futuristic looking igloo where you’ll find Brut Royal champagne on tap, digital art screenings and The Organic Jam’s contemporary concept which sees live music mixed with DJs.
BOOK AHEAD: The Loft Project
21st-22nd January
Unit 2A Quebec Wharf, 315 Kingsland Road, E8 4DJ
If you’ve been wondering what happened to Nuno Mendes’ original haunt, the temp-tastic Loft Project, you’ll be pleased to hear it’s still alive and kicking – if you can catch it at the right time. With guest Chefs from international restaurants doing short residencies at the intimate dining venue, it’s hard to know who’s going to be where when – so trust us when we tell you to book now for January’s Swedish spell courtesy of local star Faviken and its chef Magnus Nilsson. And if that’s not soon enough for you, we’re hearing good things about Viajante’s twice-monthly Supper Club for 14, with Nuno at the helm, too.
SHOP: The Temporium Shop
9th-19th December
221 Brompton Road, SW3 2EJ
Where would Christmas be without a good pop-up? After all, Santa’s appearance is at best fleeting (if you manage to catch him at all) so why shouldn’t shops follow suit. Fans of design who are looking for something just not stocked on the high street will love the innovative range of books, stationary, lighting and interiors by independent designers like Fiona Paxton, Dezeen watches, Ercol, Tracey Neuls, Undergrowth Design and Thorsten van Elten’s Theo line.
BALLET: The Nutcracker
10th – 30th December, £10-£65
London Coliseum, 33 St Martins Lane, WC2N 4ES
It wouldn’t feel like Christmas without a beautiful ballet to look forward to. Reserve your tickets now and enter into the world of The Nutcracker, complete with toy soldiers, Sugarplum fairies, the Mouse King and Drosselmeyer the magician. The English National Ballet takes on the frost-covered winter tale with Tchaikovsky score, Edwardian set and amazing costumes ready to transport you to the Land of Snow. Magical. ?
