Circle of Inspiration: A Dinner in the Gallery

The Circle of Inspiration, a salon-like event that focuses on good conversations within inspiring venues, took place in February in St.Moritz. A unique visual and culinary tour curated by Zero Senses, it led guests through the three floors of the Hauser & Wirth Gallery and featured inspiring thoughts by the director of the gallery, Stefano Rabolli Pansera, about the “art of creating context”.
A review written by Tanja Schug

Let’s be honest: one rarely gets inspired at conferences or even at regular business meetings: these occasions are often mere repetitions of what is already known. I have mostly found inspiration through serendipitous one-on-one conversations with people from outside my professional field. Such meaningful encounters bring new insights. However, good conversations seem to be a rarity nowadays, and when we do chance upon one, it is most likely outside of crowded conference halls.

Is it possible to create an event that is designed to make meaningful conversations happen? I was intrigued by the thought of translating my inspiring moments into a format in which I can share this experience with others. The Circle of Inspiration is a private event, where an intimate group of carefully chosen guests from different fields dive into a given topic and open each other’s perceptions by sharing their perspectives. The Circle always takes place in a unique and inspiring atmosphere that is relevant to the theme of the evening.

The aim of the Circle of Inspiration is to expand existing thought patterns and open up new mind space. Sounds abstract? Ultimately, it is about having a good conversation in an environment that fosters meaningful exchanges.

The Hauser & Wirth Gallery is one of the world’s best known and highly regarded art galleries. Its director, Stefano Rabolli Pansera, an architect by profession, presented the gallery’s current Charles Gaines exhibition to the guests. As an architect, his strength is certainly not only that he understands the fundamental idea of creation, but also has the skill of creating an impactful and fascinating context around any (art) piece he speaks about. Stefano shared his insights about the much admired (for some, overrated) and yet magical art world:

“The art world is an extraordinary ecosystem, where all actors must play an active role: artists, collectors, galleries, institutions, curators, journalists, and teachers. Art galleries can be interpreted as agents to trigger, construct, enhance and nurture contexts for their artists as well as for their collectors. Art galleries contribute to the creation of a cultural context for artists, revealing the wider cultural horizon where their work is conceived and produced. Art galleries construct an audience of possible collectors enriching the market (the commercial context) for its artists.”

For me, the art of creating a context is connected with the need to add a touch of magic to a grey, dull and crowded world. Due to constant availability and connectivity, people have unlearned how to be “enchanted”. We no longer know what it means to wait for something. From one-click buttons to social media and messages, everything is instant. But where is the magic? What triggers our curiosity? And what draws us under its spell? When you ask yourself what enchanted you last time, you will probably have to go back to your childhood. Maybe you remember how your mother or father once told you a fairytale. Most of us remember these simple but magical moments of excitement and suspense when listening to a fairytale which promised a happy end. These are the moments that we need to re-create. I am convinced that if we create magical moments in everything we do, we bring back attraction, curiosity, imagination, and beauty to everyday situations, including business. The art world is a wonderful example of this.

Zero Senses is deeply connected with arts, as the name of the company, which refers to the post-war ZERO art movement, already expresses. Zero Senses also resonates with the process of artistic creation in the way it helps its clients find inspiration.

The fact that I curate individual Tours of Inspiration for my clients is ultimately a transposition of what an art curator does for galleries, making the Hauser & Wirth Gallery an ideal venue that also embodies the meaning of curated inspiration.

Curating a physical and mental mind space for serendipity and good conversations is what the Circle of Inspiration aims to do. Thank you, Stefano Rabolli Pansera for having given us great insights into the art world!