Makers, operators and artists, on the record.
Elliot Faber on the future of drinking well (and a perfect highball recipe)
A conversation ahead of a guest shift at NOLO!, the naturalist bar and cafe Normal . created in Seoul. Think of your most indulgent guilty pleasure – a Japanese whisky with a splash of water in a beautifully cut rock glass or that sought-after 2015 Super Tuscan. Now, what if you could enjoy your favourite booze without the hangover? Higher quality non-alcoholic drinks, be it 0.0 beers, Campari substitutes, zero-proof gins are hitting the market. Can complex, time-tested, adult flavours of quality spirit be both indulgent and guilt-free? Let’s face it, a glass of fine Brunello was never an alcohol…
A monument to witness – interview with Pamela Longobardi
A conversation from Cosmopolitan Ocean, one of a series of brand experience programmes Normal . curated at Patina Maldives, Fari Islands through 2023 and 2024. For this multi-day programme I set out looking for a permanent work rather than a passing event, and found Pamela Longobardi, who has been making art out of ocean plastics for twenty years. Ocean Archaeology of Our Time was unveiled during the festival and remains on the island. Pam is Oceanic Society’s Artist-in-Nature, a Distinguished Professor at Georgia State University, and an internationally exhibiting and award-winning artist. How can art become a monument in addressing…
A conversation with Avery Whitmore, humanitarian of healing arts
A conversation before Experience as Healing, the first of a series of brand experience programmes Normal . curated at Patina Maldives, Fari Islands through 2023 and 2024. Recently, the ancient practice of breathwork has gained renewed attention as a powerful tool for enhancing overall wellbeing. Its bodily, mental and emotional benefits have been reported by the most rigorously peer-reviewed, respected medical journals. New England Journal of Medicine found that regular slow breathing exercises improved lung function and reduced asthma symptoms while International Journal of Behavioral Medicine reported breathwork was associated with improvements in immune system function in HIV patients. So…