Has the Cultural Calendar Been Hijacked?
Has the Cultural Calendar Been Hijacked?
with Olivia Lugarini, Jasmine Cortes and Grace Cha
By Bonnie Langedijk
The cultural calendar has never been fuller. Art fairs, brand activations, community gatherings, industry crossovers, we are busier than ever showing up. And yet, for all that showing up, very little seems to be landing.
Cultural moments used to be sites of genuine exchange, discourse and discovery. Now they function as currency. And the experience itself is, increasingly, just the backdrop.
The cultural calendar for those working across art, design and fashion has always involved travel, networking, the occasional party. That's not new. What's new is the degree to which every industry has colonised every other industry's calendar: fashion at art fairs, tech at film festivals, luxury brands at community gatherings, everyone pushing product, chasing relevance, producing content. Cross-pollination has real potential to make these spaces more interesting and alive. But there's a meaningful difference between investing in a cultural moment and extracting credibility from one. Between being a patron and being a parasite. Between showing up because you have something to contribute and showing up because the room looks good on your grid.
And the brands. Brands have become prolific producers of cultural moments. But when does an activation add genuine value to a culture, and when does it simply borrow the aesthetic of community while bypassing the community itself? Who bears the cost when spaces built slowly, carefully, by the people who actually shaped them, get overwritten by those with bigger budgets and shorter attention spans?
Meanwhile, the promise of democratisation sits uneasily alongside the reality of gatekeeping. Cultural access is, in theory, wider than ever. In practice, curation still excludes it just does it more elegantly now, behind the language of intention and taste.
What would it actually look like to build cultural spaces that deliver something real? We asked three women navigating these worlds to weigh in on what we're really seeking when we show up, what genuine investment in culture looks like, and what it would take to design something worth attending.
JASMINE CORTES
Jasmine Cortes is a New York-based curator and creative strategist connecting dots across contemporary culture. A self-described “Swiss army knife,” her work moves fluidly between cultural direction, editorial, digital storytelling, and special projects. After studying Culture, Criticism and Curation at Central Saint Martins, she became interested in treating curation less as something confined to the art world and more as a broader cultural language. Cortes works across disciplines, shaping campaigns and events for artists and brands positioned just left of mainstream, with a focus on building immersive, inclusive and culturally attuned narratives. Her experience spans Step Your World, Semaine, Are We On Air, and other collaborative projects across contemporary culture.
OLIVIA LUGARINI
Olivia Lugarini is a New York-based publicist working across design, lifestyle, and hospitality. With over a decade of experience, her career began in fashion at Karla Otto in London before expanding across London, Los Angeles, and New York, where she developed a practice shaped by leading international communications across creative industries. Today, Lugarini works independently with leading design and cultural clients, including Reschio Estate and Hotel, Sarita Posada Interiors and Autumn Sonata, advising on storytelling for globally recognised brands.
GRACE CHA
Grace Cha is a Los Angeles-based brand and cultural strategist and founder of Cha Advisory, where she advises brands, museums, and cultural institutions on partnerships, positioning, and long-term growth at the intersection of brand and culture. With more than two decades of experience spanning luxury fashion, technology, and the arts, including roles at Dior, Prada, and Valentino, and most recently the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, she brings a cross-disciplinary approach to cultural storytelling and audience engagement. At the Lucas Museum, Cha was Deputy Director of External Affairs, shaping communications, partnerships, and development. Her work continues to sit within the broader contemporary art ecosystem, including ongoing support for institutions such as LACMA and the Hammer Museum.
THE CURRENCY OF CULTURAL EVENTS
BRAND MOMENT VS CULTURAL MOMENT
TO DOCUMENT OR NOT TO DOCUMENT?
WHAT’S ACTUALLY WORTH IT?
