Dina wearing Ute Decker jewelry from Elisabetta Cipriani Gallery
What was the inspiration behind Stories of Art?
After spending a decade attending lectures and art courses all over London, I thought it might make sense to have a cosy venue closer to my home and where so many of my friends and acquaintances live. This would also allow people who work in the West End to attend the one-hour weekly lectures before work, and for parents to come after school drop offs. Four or so years ago I asked a friend of mine who was the founder and co-owner of Grace Belgravia to let us use her space for Stories of Art morning lectures. She kindly did so: Kate Percival is such a star. I also wanted it to be a social forum, so lectures have been invariably preceded by coffee and breakfast. It is a chance to meet like-minded people.
Having said that, the academic side is important to me personally. I like the rigour of the scholastic aspect of it, so I invited specialist lecturers. However, I did not want it to be a staid forum, so I look for lecturers who tell stories. The storytelling is very important to me - that’s how the name Stories of Art came about. Over the years we have morphed into a Club-like forum. I encourage questions and "member" interaction.
Going back to Grace Belgravia, when it closed down, two or so years ago, I looked for new venues and found the South Kensington Club; given that COVID is hopefully behind us, we will resume our lectures there at the end of May. While I was looking for a new venue, one of our attendees (I like to call them members), Lady Tracy Northampton, referred us to Annabel’s, a private members club in Mayfair. So far, we have hosted more than 20 lectures in the beautiful Mexican room at Annabel's (pre-COVID), and a few over Zoom during the first lockdown. We will do it again in June.
How did the pandemic affect your business?
The past year has been different and strange: maybe unreal. When COVID took off, we were forced to move online. It was part of my long-term plan but COVID brought that forward, dare I say it, without much preparation! Fortuitously, we had launched the Stories of Art Instagram page four months before the initial Lockdown began and this gave us a greater global reach. I did not expect people to sign up via Instagram, but within a month or so we started having this large international following.
Our local London-based art history lectures have gone global during the pandemic, with the weekly series now watched as far afield as Bolivia!
Since last spring the lectures have started running on Zoom twice a week. Besides the Thursday morning sessions, we have added a 2pm session for international participants. The course, from Impressionism to Contemporary Art, has proved particularly popular with the New Yorkers just starting their day.
For the first three years, our London courses attracted members via word-of-mouth alone. Now, we found the same thing happening on a global scale with clusters of Stories of Art attendees appearing in New York, Washington, Miami, Dubai, Mumbai, and Bolivia!
The social aspect is still so important. The Zoom communities now join an international “virtual coffee break” just before the lectures begin and I introduce everyone (new joiners more so) to make them comfortable.
It is not only our audience that has become more international. I am very keen for Stories of Art to be about world art history not just Western art history. African, Chinese, Latin American, and Indian art have already been featured, and a recent lecture covered how Japanese art influenced French artists.
The sessions also embrace modern movements like Me Too and Black Lives Matter, as I am keen that “the Grand Masters” become relevant to 2021.
Stories of Art’s “When Art Danced with Music” soirée titled “Ballets Russes, Diaghelev, and his Circle”
What do you think the power of art is?
Art stands as a visual representation of the history of the world that is channelled through the eye of the creator. It’s a magical amalgamation of the experience of life. We can read history books or watch the news but what better way to transport through time than to experience viewing an artwork. The power lies within the time and emotion it carries eternally, to be seen by the eyes of the future.
Who are your favourite artists, and is there a particular artist you would love to collect?
I absolutely love Gerhard Richter and Anselm Kiefer, and would love to collect them. I also love Mona Hatoum and Sarah Lucas' sculptures, Oliver Beer's sound installations, Almagul Menlibaeva's videos, and Aigana Gali's magical hand-painted coats and paintings to name just a few. Aigana Gali, the photographer Andrea Hamilton, and wearable art jewelry gallerist Elisabetta Cipriani will have an incredible 'Light Works' exhibition in Belgravia, London on 21-28 May and I am planning to buy two works of art there. Light Works meditates on the ways we see and experience colour interlinking spirituality through three themes: natural metamorphosis, geometric poetry and water. (And finally I am also eyeing Sarah Lucas's bronze Bunny sculpture and her cement boots with an English flag; I’m in discussion with her gallery Sadie Coles HQ!)
What are your favourite cities for viewing your art/your favourite art fairs around the world?
Call me biased, but London is one of my favourite places to view art. We are simply spoilt for choice with the opportunity to attend exhibitions and retrospectives of some of the greatest artists that have ever lived! And of course, I love visiting Paris and New York for their incredible museums and groundbreaking exhibitions. I also adore attending Venice Biennale, 1:54 African Art Fair in Marrakech, and the Art Basel fairs in Hong Kong, Miami, and Basel.
What are you most excited about in the art world for 2021?
I am most excited about being able to hold some of our lectures in person! As much I have loved being able to host and curate on Zoom and have the opportunity to welcome new members globally, I have dearly missed catching up with our Stories of Art enthusiasts for a cup of tea and croissant (a small indulgence) prior to the lecture.
To learn more about Stories of Art, please visit their website here.
They are currently in their Spring Term covering Contemporary Art, featuring artists from Mona Hatoum and Sarah Lucas to Barbara Kruger and Kara Walker; live, online Zoom courses are available on Tuesdays or Thursdays through the end of June.
Dina wearing a coat by Aigana Gali, pictured at the ARCOmadrid art fair in front of Annie Morris’s colourful sculpture at the Timothy Taylor Gallery stand.