Cultureshock Connects
Issue 5
Welcome to Cultureshock Connects, our monthly digest of innovative content created in partnership with some of the world’s leading cultural brands. Featured in this issue: Rirkrit Tiravanija, Ariel Okin, Jeffrey Gibson, the Financial Times Business of Luxury Summit, Abercrombie & Kent and more.
Rirkrit Tiravanija + Qatar = magic in Venice
One of the most anticipated exhibitions at the upcoming edition of the Venice Biennale, opening on 9 May, is preeminent contemporary artist Rirkrit Tiravanija’s project for the Qatar Pavilion. The Thai conceptualist is bringing together a pan-Arab gathering of artists, musicians and chefs in a tent at the future site of the Lina Ghotmeh-designed permanent pavilion. Read about Tiravanija’s vision in the new issue of Q&A, which Cultureshock has just published for Qatar Museums – and if you’re in Venice, keep a look out for our film crew documenting what will surely be a magical project.
Cultureshock joins the Financial Times in Puglia
We can’t get enough of Italy. After Venice, Cultureshock heads to the south of the boot for the Financial Times Business of Luxury Summit in Borgo Egnazia, Puglia, from 17-19 May. We are delighted to be a Silver sponsor for this preeminent gathering of luxury leaders, and proud that the programme features visionary author Vadim Grigoryan, who will be presenting Art Thinking, our book and podcast that are redefining the way luxury brands interact with artists and art organisations.
Beyond Goop: Ariel Okin represents a new generation of interior designers
Selected by Gwyneth Paltrow to design Goop’s Manhattan HQ and by Lena Dunham to create interiors for two apartments, 34-year-old Ariel Okin has become a go-to force for millennials. For the new issue of Reside, the magazine of Sotheby’s International Realty, Cultureshock dispatched Hannah Marriott to interview Okin on the occasion of her first book - The Happy Home (Rizzoli) - and to find out how her design aesthetics are clicking with the leaders of her generation.
Celebrating the dynamic work of Jeffrey Gibson
As anticipation builds for the 2026 Venice Biennale, it’s a chance to revisit Jeffrey Gibson’s landmark presentation at the US Pavilion in 2024. The exhibition brought together live performances by Indigenous dancers and singers alongside the artist’s vibrant visual language to explore identity, community and cultural continuity.
Cultureshock partnered on a series of films for Site Santa Fe and the Portland Art Museum that capture the project’s energy and collaborative spirit. Through movement, sound and storytelling, the work offers an insight into Gibson’s wider practice across performance, installation and public art. Revisit the films here and here to experience the dynamism and impact of this important body of work.
You can also experience Jeffrey Gibson’s artistic vision at The Genesis Facade Commission: Jeffrey Gibson, The Animal That Therefore I Am, now on view at The Met, New York until 9 June. The Genesis Facade Commission is part of Genesis Art Initiatives, whose overall social communication is developed in ongoing collaboration with Cultureshock.
Bringing Abercrombie & Kent’s Souvenir to the art world
Long synonymous with luxury travel, Abercrombie & Kent has just launched a new magazine called Souvenir to capture the company’s distinct approach to exploration and discovery. Part of Abercrombie & Kent’s strategy is to reach sophisticated art audiences, and they have partnered with Cultureshock to develop a distribution plan that is bringing Souvenir everywhere the art world gathers. Get your copy of this spectacular magazine in Venice during the Biennale and in Miami during Art Basel.