By Michael Albanese at Element Lifestyle
The Dalai Lama once said that one should, once a year, go somewhere they have never seen before. As one of the founders of Element Lifestyle, we have an opportunity to help others do just that. We help create experiences for our clients that are crafted around the intangible qualities in their lives: passions. Travel can be centered around food, locales chosen for adventure. An increasing trend, however, is the need to satisfy artistic curiosities while embarking on authentic adventures. There is the art of travel and then there is traveling for art. Destinations around the world are offering unique and compelling reasons to jump on a plane to seek a cure for their wanderlust.
Clients have consistently requested the Benesse Art Site Naoshima in Japan. It is one of the most compelling outdoor art installations in the world. Much of the contemporary work has been created specifically for the five miles on Naoshima Island, which was purchased by a Japanese billionaire in the late 1980’s. The idea is that visitors engage on their own terms, in their own timing, taking in the cutting edge artistic expressions against the backdrop of natural beauty.
Or take the Room of Certitudes in France, a room made completely of beeswax chiseled directly into the granite of the Pyrenees Mountains. For something different, clients are visiting the Zadar Waterfront in Croatia, where hundreds visit for incredible installations by Nikola Basic. Light, music and sound harmonize for a truly unique and immersive experience for any art lover. This is a terrific stopping point when visiting Croatia and enjoying its picturesque coastline.
In North America, you fill find the Tippet Rise Art Center in Montana, where thousands of acres are home to sculptures and music that can be traversed by foot, bike or with a guide and car. The outdoor venues are both stunning and artistically fulfilling. Similarly, the Storm King Art Center in upstate New York offers modern sculptures sprawling across a bucolic 500 acres. Each year there is a different theme. The 2018 theme centers around climate change and is not to be missed.
