Attitude 102: Gather

The themes kept piling up in our agendas and inboxes and the name for this edition was still undecided. First, gastronomy. Then, perhaps travel. Unconvinced, we then debated what it was that we really wanted to communicate. The answer was resounding in its unanimity: reunion, the much needed coming together of people.

After almost two years of witnessing the fragility of our world, Gather urges us to (re)discover shared routines that now, more than ever before, appeal to a renewed awareness and sense of community. An edition with an optimistic outlook, released at the same time that art and design fairs and other events are returning to the streets and pavilions to carry on nurturing what they have always been intended for – to promote encounters between makers and consumers, in the most personal way possible.

We invite you to join us during another edition of the Salone del Mobile, which, this year, once again offers a more intimate format, and, also, to travel with us to the ever-inspiring streets of Copenhagen and Stockholm. In these cities we had the chance to explore the most recent edition of the 3daysofdesign, a veritable international Mecca of design, and also to take part in the Stockholm Creative Edition, the latest art and design initiative to be emerge from this Swedish city.

Between conversations with Portuguese chefs (where we highlight the remarkable creativity and resilience of the chefs Vasco Coelho Santos and Fernando Morais), suggestive hotel and restaurant proposals and also a totally different and bold fashion production – to be discovered in our Mood section – there was still enough time to travel to Menorca. A place that swiftly made us fall in love with its approach to preserving the unspoilt beauty of its landscapes, while displaying an intense artistic vibrancy, so often overlooked when visiting this destination.

In "The Tale of the Unknown Island", José Saramago wrote that "you have to leave the island in order to see the island. We can't see ourselves if we don't get out of ourselves". This is possibly the greatest treasure of living – an ability to distance ourselves from what is really important in order to appreciate its true value. Whether it's an island like Menorca, or everything we've been through over the last year. [A]