X MUSE hosted a VIP opening situated at Venice Meeting Point where our branded bar is perfect for meetings, quiet drinks, and ambromoments. Originally established in 2015, Venice Meeting Point is a platform created by Lightbox for international dialogue in contemporary art, with the purpose to foster collaboration opportunities between visual artists, art organisations, and the international arts community, whilst cultivating deeper public engagement with the arts.
This year, Venice Meeting Point can be found at the Navy Officer’s Club and hosts a series of art encounters which are presented by ‘Unfinished Camp’, a global platform bringing the ethical technology and visual arts communities closer together. It is the brainchild of internationally acclaimed curator and artistic director of the Serpentine Galleries Hans Ulrich Obrist and author and cultural strategist András Szántó. It features an art exhibition curated by ‘My Art Guides’ publisher Mara Sartore entitled “De Rerum Natura”. Discover the X MUSE Cocktail Programme and visit the pop-up bar to enjoy a programme of artistically-inspired cocktails.
In this article, we have introduced some of our new Venice cocktails featured recently at Venice Meeting Point to showcase some of our superbly easy cocktails with vodka for you to enjoy at home or out with friends.
7△IO (Pronounced ‘Seven Dio’)
7△IO (pronounced "seven dio") is inspired by the 59th Venice Art Biennale theme and has been interpreted by Vadim Grigoryan and created by Sebastien Gans. 7△IO is an easy cocktail with vodka consisting of delicious X Muse in a refreshing mix of lemon, basil, honey and ginger whilst also being served in a tumbler with a white grape to garnish.
The cocktail concept is the reaction to one of this year's Venice Biennale’s key questions posed by chief curator Cecilia Alemani: “What constitutes life, and what differentiates animals, plants, humans and non-humans?”.
X MUSE is a drinks brand linked to the myth of Dionysus, whose essence and overall identity are surprisingly contemporary. Dionysus’ answer to the posed question by Alemani would be ‘no difference’. Interestingly and mysteriously he fuses man and nature, woman and man, plants and animals, the old and young, crosses the limits set out by civilization, potentially even crossing the boundaries between life and death, and in general between the creative and destructive forces within himself and the world.
The ‘△IO’ within the cocktail’s title refers to one of the precious orphic bone tablets associated with a Dionysian cult discovered at the site of the Mytilenean colony of Olbia, on the northern coast of the Black Sea. The inscription contains greek ‘△IO’ - an abbreviation of the name of Dionysus, and three words related to the Biennale theme: Truth, Body and Soul.
“7 elements of the Seven Dio cocktail are a symbolic and schematic representation of sevenness. It presents a connection with the myth of Dionysus’ division by the Titans into seven parts which were afterwards reunited by Apollo. These acts symbolically represent the separation in unity or the cyclical dynamics of separation and unification, which characterises the world we live in” -Vadim Grigoryan.
Ingredients
35 ml - X MUSE Scottish barley vodka
15 ml - Dolin blanc
20 ml - Freshly squeezed lemon juice
15 ml - Basil and honey syrup
Top Up - Fever Tree Ginger Beer
To finish off this easy vodka-based cocktail, simply garnish with a single white grape and an ivy leaf and is best served in either a tumbler or highball. Simply build and stir the ingredients directly into your glass and enjoy!
Magical Tales
Magical Tales is a delicious vodka-based cocktail inspired by Leonora Carrington and has been interpreted by Vadim Grigoryan and created by Sebastien Gans. Magical Tales is an easy vodka cocktail consisting of X Muse Scottish barley vodka in a surprising and delicate combination of sweet, sour, bitter and salty flavours derived from raspberries, lemons and Campari, served in a coupette with a salty sesame mix.
“The Milk of Dreams” is the title of the 59th Venice Biennale which is taken from a 1950s book by Leonora Carrington, a British-Mexican surrealist artist. Carrington’s esoteric practice resonates strongly with X Muse’s own love for esoterics, passion for alchemy, and the continuous search for sparkles of inspiration in the ancient wisdom.
The cocktail’s name refers to the emblematic 2018 exhibition, “Leonora Carrington: Magical Tales,” at the Museo de Arte Moderno in Mexico City, which is famous for its connections with the metaphysical clubs established by the disciples of Russian mystics P. D. Ouspensky and G. I. Gurdjieff.
The predominant colour of the cocktail is pink and gently alludes to the prototypical interpretation of the High Priestess, which is depicted by Carrington on her Tarot cards and on her iconic painting ‘And Then We Saw the Daughter of the Minotaur’ in 1953, which was acquired by New York’s Museum of Modern Art.
The black decoration situated on the side of the coupette glass, in which the cocktail is best served, along with the black fleur de sel and sesame further bewilders the senses which are already dancing on the edges of sweetness and bitterness and introduces through its taste the Mephistophelian touch, for which Leonora Carrington has always been famous for” -Vadim Grigoryan.
Ingredients
40 ml - X MUSE Scottish barley vodka
10 ml - Campari
20 ml - Freshly squeezed lemon juice
20 ml - Fresh raspberry syrup
To finish off this deliciously easy vodka cocktail, simply garnish with a sprinkling of black salt, or fleur de sel, charcoal and sesame and is best served in a coupette. Simply shake the ingredients before stirring and pouring into your chilled glass.