Mykonos – The Best Art & Party Destination of the Summer!

We’re now well into another scorching summer in Mykonos, and we’re all enjoying every minute of it! As the mercury rises we’ve been enjoying slipping off to the beach, lounging under umbrellas at beach bars, and taking the odd dip in the cool sea. We’ve been enjoying some delicious dishes at some of Mykonos’ best restaurants (Principauté de Mykonos – Panormos is our current fave), and partied till dawn at the fantastic nightclubs and bars. But while you may know Mykonos best for its fab party scene, beaches, and glamour, there’s a whole lot more to discover too. Mykonos is one of the top destinations for art lovers and aficionados!

Mykonos – A Location for Art Lovers Through the Years

Mykonos is place where you can rub shoulders with Hollywood A-listers, musicians, and fashion icons and designers. To attract all these cultural titans, it’s hardly surprising that Mykonos should be an island that seeps culture, and it’s something that goes way back into the island’s history. You only need to visit the Mykonos Archaeological Museum in the Chora, or the stunning neighbouring island of Delos to admire beautiful historic artefacts, and see that this jewel of the Cyclades has been a font of creativity for artists for centuries.

If you read our blog post last year about Mykonos being the island holiday destination of choice for the stars, you may already know that Mykonos played a role in the fashion world in the 20th century. Fashion icon Jackie Onassis also helped to bring cultural flair to the island, as did visits from Marlon Brando, Grace Kelly and Liz Taylor.

The very island itself is a cultural star, and its beautiful winding streets and whitewashed houses were praised by the genius modernist architect and painter Le Corbusier as a great source of inspiration. Mykonos has been a movie location too, with Agios Ioannis beach, to the south west of Mykonos Panormos Villas, doing its best to steal the show in the 1989 movie ‘Shirley Valentine’.

Mykonos & Art Today

Mykonos’ rich history as a cultural hotbed continues today. You need only to walk the beautiful winding streets of the Chora, or explore some of the beautiful boutiques to see how this stunning island celebrates art and creativity. Our own luxury sea view villas in Panormos bay have been artfully designed to appeal to those with a keen sense of style and appreciation for beauty. The Mykonos Panormos Villas mix the Cycladic minimalism so admired by Le Corbusier with modern features and facilities, using interesting and unusual antique pieces as focal points. Just take a look at the photos from our recent photoshoot of our one bedroom private pool villas to see what we mean!

Best Art Spots in Mykonos

And the arts scene is really flourishing in Mykonos. As well as the bi-annual Mykonos Biennale cultural showcase arts extravaganza (last held in 2015, so keep your eyes peeled for next year’s event), there is the Artists of Mykonos group – a collection of artists living and working in Mykonos. There are several fantastic art galleries for you to explore too, showcasing a variety of contemporary artworks. Highlights include the Rarity Gallery, hosting exhibitions of work from international artists in Mykonos, Donna Skaropoulou’s Lifeline Art Studio, the Kapopoulos Fine Arts gallery and auction house, and Magdalini Sakellaridi’s Art Studio Gallery. Cine Manto Mykonos in the Chora is also well worth a visit – as well as an open air cinema showing several different movies a week, it has a restaurant, beautiful gardens, and also hosts regular events and exhibitions of paintings, sculptures and photography.

International Contemporary Art Exhibition in Mykonos

A new arrival on the Mykonos Art scene is the fabulous Dio Horia gallery. Located in Mykonos Town in a one of those beautifully iconic whitewashed buildings, Dio Horia is an art gallery space created by Marina Vranopoulou, showing contemporary modern international artwork and also incorporating an artists in residence program. And it’s Dio Horia that is offering the piece de la resistance for this year’s arts scene in Mykonos, with ‘Greek Gotham’. This exciting exhibition is carrying 16 of New York’s most cutting-edge contemporary artists over the Atlantic to Mykonos! Curated by Maria Brito, Greek Gotham is somewhat of a pioneer – the first time ever that a group of New York only artists has exhibited in Greece. Many have produced new work especially for the show, which asks the artists for their interpretation of a specific Greek word. Better yet, three of the artists (Taylor McKimens, Mira Dancy and Austin Lee), will actually be visiting Mykonos themselves for the exhibition. Greek Gotham runs from July 29th – August 27th.

XLSIOR Festival 2016 in Mykonos

Speaking of August, things are really going to start heating up in Mykonos! XLSIOR, one of the hottest international gay circuit festivals of the year, is making its return. Back for the 8th year in a row, the 2016 XLSIOR gay holiday festival in Mykonos is even bigger and better than last year. From the 17th to the 24th August, this award-winning gay festival will bring together some of the top DJs in the world for a whole week of crazy partying, fun times, and unforgettable memories in Mykonos, one of the top gay friendly holiday destinations there is! As always, the XLSIOR parties will take place across the island, at some of the top nightclubs and bars in Mykonos. For some of the background on what to expect from the festival, you can read our blog post from last year about the XLSIOR Mykonos Festival. For the festival lineup and tickets, head over the official XLSIOR Festival website. As always, gay visitors to Mykonos can always expect a warm and friendly welcome any time at Mykonos Panormos Villas!

Announcing Yoga Holiday Breaks at Mykonos Panormos Villas

Hot on the heels of all our exciting news last month, we’re very excited to let you in on another little secret – Yoga Heaven Mykonos is coming to Mykonos Panormos Villas! For September and October 2016, and in April and May 2017, we’re going to offer special Mykonos yoga holiday packages at our sea view luxury villas in Panormos bay. What better way to relax, keep fit and reenergise your mind and body in a luxury villa in our little corner of paradise? We’re going to be making a special announcement with all the information about Yoga Heaven Mykonos at Mykonos Panormos Villas very very soon, so make sure to follow us on Twitter or like us on Facebook to be the first to find out about our yoga breaks when they launch!