Every now and again, the  Luxury Travelista needs to getaway and soak up a little culture.  Whether it is the theater, opera, museums or a concert, exposure to traditional forms of social entertainment make people more enlightened and conversationally interesting. As soon as I began pondering which exciting destinations to discover, there was a 60 Minutes television segment about happening events in the international art world. As an artist and curator, this piece immediately captured my attention.

Art Basel

Morely Safer, commentator on the show 60 Minutes, shared his most recent experience at Art Basel in Miami.  Art Basel is one of the premier modern and contemporary art exhibitions in the world.  The fact that this art show is generally held in December in lush, tropical Miami Beach only adds to my desire to go.

The exhibition features contemporary works of art from leading galleries all over the world in addition to submissions from well over 2,500 artists.  One of the best things about Art Basel is its’ breadth and depth of exhibit presentations. The contemporary art world boasts a variety of artistic expression by way of sculpture, painting, digital art, installations, video and illustration.  At Art Basel, both established artisans and up-and-coming artists present their works side by side.

Morely Safer’s piece highlighted the fact that the exhibit’s venue is as much about seeing art as it is about being art.  Thousands of the world’s art crowd and “beautiful people” converge upon Miami for this annual event which is held twice a year. Celebs and music industry moguls such as Naomi Campbell, Michael Douglas, Ivanka Trump, Will Smith and Wolfgang Puck are just a few of the glitterati can be found tripping the light fantastic at this amazing art scene.  Mark your calendars to be in Miami Beach for Art Basel December 6-9, 2012.

For those of you wanting an international art world experience, think about attending Art 43 Basel.  It takes place much sooner than December 2012.  The event is first held in Switzerland and is currently scheduled to take place from June 14-17, 2012 in luxurious Messe Basel, Messeplatz, Basel, Switzerland.

This is the first of a four post series on culturally rich, “must see” destinations for Luxury Travelistas around the world.  Stay tuned and thanks for stopping by. Ciao!