Between FOMO and JOMO
Monday 9 January 2023
2019 was a packed year for me, and by the end of it 2020 looked like it was going to be my busiest ever for places to visit and things to do. It was to be a year of some great exhibitions, detailed travel adventures and buildings or landscapes I had to get up close and personal with. You all know what happens next in this story!
The truth is, since the end of Covid-19 lockdowns, I haven’t been as good at researching and forward planning for my own leisure diary. I often hear about great things after they’ve passed or when my diary is already full. However - this is not a lament. There genuinely is (for me) joy in missing out (JOMO) sometimes as well as the more often referred to fear of missing out (FOMO).
With this in mind, here are ten things I’m going to try and pepper my 2023 with. There must be no holding me to account in late December if my list is only partially ticked off.
1. Winter Festival, Museum of the Home
I’m proud to be on the Commercial Development Committee for this cosy yet vibrant London museum. The Winter Festival recognises seasonal times for all sorts of faiths and nationalities with Diwali in late October through to Chinese and Vietnamese New Year at the end of this month. Catch the latter in a few weeks (with a clever climate action green twist), or look out for the return of Winter Festival towards the end of this year.
2. Snowdrops at Painswick Rococo Garden
Never mind the usual poetic descriptions of carpets - this is a full on Ibiza foam party of whiteness in the woods of this historic garden! I last saw the billions of resilient little joys back in 2006 and my advice is to avoid snow blindness, go full Anna Wintour with your sunglasses.
The garden is open daily from 21 January to 28 February 2023 to reflect the popularity of the snowdrops. Late winter is also a great time to appreciate the gorgeous garden buildings there without the myriad of leaves and summer flowers flamboyantly competing for attention.
3. Diva at the Victoria & Albert Museum
If you put anyone on the spot and asked for their instant reaction to the word ‘Diva’, I think some would use celebratory language and others less favourable. This exhibition explores just that - the power and creativity of iconic performers across a range of artforms. I know it’ll be visually and mentally stunning.
Diva opens on 24 June 2023. See you there, on your best Diva behaviour!
4. Sensing Naples at Compton Verney
This is the sort of place I would turn up to with no knowledge of what exhibitions or activities were taking place. I just know it will stimulate.
And with this temporary display Compton Verney take historic works from its own collection as well as special commissions from inclusive arts commissioning bodies, studios and practitioners. My favourite experiences are multi-sensory, and so I’ll be thrilled to be transported to a version of Napoli courtesy of a much-loved English gallery.
Visit any time of year, but Sensing Naples runs from 1 April to 31 December 2023.
5. Leeds 2023
Brexit took away this city’s slot as European City of Culture. I love that Leeds decided (and no doubt worked really hard) to still invest passion, money and effort into celebrating and boosting its cultural platform in 2023.
The range and nature of events, activities and installations is huge - too much to summarise here. There are ambitious and wholesome aims for Leeds 2023 in involvement, employment and legacy. I’ll be fascinated to see the tactics the city uses to sustain this boost, and will enjoy lots of heart and soul in 2023 and I’m sure beyond.
6. Pullman Dining on the North York Moors Railway
I’m a longstanding James Bond fan. One of the few things that separates 007 and I is that up until recently, I’d never eaten a meal on a train. Yes - a packet of crisps and a drink from that oh-so-narrow but very expensive trolley, but never a meal.
Nearly a year ago I paced across the platform at London Euston station with all sorts of other people and dogs - to board the Caledonian Sleeper to Inverness. A wonderful experience in a modern yet stylish sleeper train.
The talented team at North York Moors Railway have very kindly invited me to dine on their Pullman train this year. I’ve done a lot of work with trains and railways recently so as well as enjoying a delicious meal, I’ll be intrigued as to the logistics too. A spy to rival Mr Bond himself!
7. The gardens at Lowther Castle
Ruins inspire a slightly uneasy love in me. I find them incredibly romantic and instructive, but with places like Witley Court and Lowther Castle, I always walk away from them mourning the magnificent interiors they once housed. However - I can’t change the past and if Lowther wasn’t ruined it wouldn’t be home to Dan Pearson’s gloriously clever gardens.
As fascinating as I find the shell of the castle (deliberately transformed into this state instead of by fire or neglect), it’s the gardens that are calling me to make a repeat visit. Alongside the massive lawn leading away from the south side of the Castle are several blocks of gardens. The rose garden has been reimagined (again by one of my favourite designers, Dan Pearson), and others are in progress too. Like Heligan since the 1990s, the gradual restoration and recreation of this great estate will keep pulling me and many others back time and time again.
I remember once taking a big family group to Lowther for my nephew’s sixth birthday. We were three generations ranging in age from 3 to over 70, and ranging in interest from active fun to history. The place gave something for all of us, though it always feels quiet when I go back without them all.
I can’t remember how I heard about Planted, but it was one of the ones that got away in 2022.
In their own words, Planted is ‘the first sustainable events and media platform promoting nature-based design.’ It acknowledges the problems we face with the environment and its sustainability - and offers a welcome dose of optimism in designing solutions. These may be across food production, architecture or anything related. I’m particularly interested in innovations in fostering and spreading a sense of citizenship in all these areas.
The 2023 event is in partnership with the National Trust at their Stourhead Estate in Wiltshire. It takes place 9-11 June and will contain a menu of talks throughout each today together with a ‘botanical market showcasing brands and businesses who place nature and the environment at their core.’
As well as the inspiration and positivity from Planted, it’ll be great to just sit and enjoy the landscape garden of Stourhead - a place I can never tire of.
9. British Tattoo Art: Reclaiming the Narrative at the National Maritime Museum, Cornwall
I lived in Cornwall when up from a harbourfront wasteland came Cornwall’s newest museum. Like many young cultural destinations, it’s taken a while to settle down and find financial sustainability.
In 2017, on its fifteenth birthday, it launched a big exhibition on tattoos which then toured the UK. Growing up with Popeye on the television, I instantly associate tattoos with anchors and all things maritime. I thought this was a great theme for an exhibition at a museum like this, and at a time when we’re more inked up than ever before. Sadly I missed it in 2017 but all is not lost (at sea) - it’s back and it’s been developed further.
Acknowledging that a major part of the 2017 exhibition, 100 arms (all inked up), featured entirely white male synthetic skin, the museum has now commissioned work from 14 tattoo artists celebrating contemporary tattoo art on Black and brown skin. The original exhibition explored and challenged ideas about class and gender in tattoos and tattooing and I’m delighted that the museum and its artists will go further in diversity of representation.
British Tattoo Art: Reclaiming the Narrative finishes on 16 April 2023. The British Tattoo Art continues until January 2024.
When I say safari, I bet for most of you your imagination conjures up giraffes, elephants, dryness and orange-earthy tones. Unless I’m missing the mark, it’s not a word we quickly associate with looking at smallish living things in the British Isles.
I counted 29 different Safari tours on the website of rewilding pioneers the Knepp Estate. I’ve yet to do any, but I’m fascinated not only in the content, but how they deliver them too. There’s a kingfisher safari. What happens if you don’t see one? I’ve seen three in my many years despite spending a lot of time in their typical habitats.
I hit my teenage years reading and watching Jurassic Park and although it indulges my love of dinosaurs, it also speaks to my passion for visitor attractions. The sense of disappointment when the film’s characters complete the intentional part of their tour and see no dinosaurs whatsoever is palpable. However, having read Isabella Tree’s book Wilding about the rewilding of Knepp, I have no doubt they’ll have a creative and compelling way to compensate for any lack of blue flashes on my kingfisher safari.