I'm a big museum fan. I've been fortunate enough to visit some incredible, unique collections (the Museum of Modern Art in Buenos Aires; the Isabella Gardner Museum in Boston), and I always make a point to visit at least one whenever I travel.
However, I know not everyone shares this interest. Some people would rather fight a bear than crawl through a cold, stale space with art that doesn't move you.
Sometimes though, a museum is so well curated that everyone can find something to love.
Take the newly opened Nouveau Musee National de Monaco, filled with fun, contemporary works. This incredible new space is a reflection of the growing art and cultural sphere of fabulous Monaco. As Dorothy Spears writes for the New York Times,
"Monaco, a tiny principality that clings improbably to a limestone cliff on the southeastern coast ofFrance, has long been known as a playground for vacationers with means who dabble in hobbies like gambling and Formula One car racing. Yet in recent years, it has become home to a distinctive and vibrant international contemporary art community, a new tourist draw in a country with no shortage of them..."
"... In its short tenure, the museum has managed to produce ambitious shows like “La Carte d’Après Nature,” including a range of mediums, guest-curated by the German artist Thomas Demand, which was voted among the best exhibitions of 2010 in Artforum magazine. Its recent exhibition, “Le Silence. Une Fiction,” envisioned a modern city as a future ruin. This summer, an exhibition of work by Thomas Schütte, “One Man House,” which includes a freestanding house in the garden of the Villa Paloma, looks promising. (Set to open on July 5, the show will be presented in collaboration with the Castello di Rivoli of Turin.)"
All around this tiny country, galleries and public art exhibits are cropping up, a diverse mix reflecting theheterogeneous character of the area, and well-funded by some of the region's elite (like Princess Caroline of Monaco.)
It's certainly off the beaten travel path, but definitely something to consider for the summer, even if only for a few days. Just ask the experts at Travel Expressions to put together your next trip!
