20 JUNE 27- JULY 3, 2024 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com NEW TIMES B E S T O F M I A M I ® 2 0 2 4 July 19-21, 2024 Fri 11-6, Sat 10-5, Sun 10-4 DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Miami Airport & Conv Center Come experience all things pen! A family-friendly event! Vintage pen · Custom pens · Art · Paper · Notebooks · Journals · Leather goods & more Workshops on Calligraphy, Journaling, Handwriting, Pen & Ink Art Register online. Weekend passes or single day. Senior, Student, & Military/FR Discounts. WWW.MIAMIPENSHOW.COM BEST CURATOR Gean Moreno Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami 61 NE 41st Street Miami, 33137 305-901-5272 icamiami.org Though the Institute of Contemporary Art, Mi- ami has come under fire for alleged censorship, it shouldn’t dull the importance of what curator Gean Moreno does at this Design District mu- seum. His thought-provoking shows shine a light on under-recognized artists of the Carib- bean and African diaspora. He brought the col- orful works of Grenada native and dub-reggae painter Denzil Forrester and politically minded 79-year-old conceptual artist Charles Gaines into the Miami to the local stage. He has also shepherded important books on artists like Car- los Alfonzo, Belkis Ayón, and Juan Francisco Elso and enriched the local arts scene through events and exhibitions as co-director of local press [NAME] Publications. BEST BOOK BY A LOCAL AUTHOR Ventanitas Daniela Perez and Gesi Schilling omiami.org/shop/ventanitas-daniela-gesi Have you ever picked up a book and thought to yourself, “Why hasn’t this been done before?” Many Miamians will think just that when they see the bright orange cover of Ventanitas: A Window Into Miami’s Coffee Culture. Oddly enough, author Daniela Perez was studying abroad in London when she was inspired to write a book on the unique culture surround- ing coffee windows in Miami. The idea for a book was later picked up by Miami’s poetry people, O, Miami, when photographer Gesi Schilling joined the project. Schilling ventured out, presumably cafecito in hand, to capture stunning portraits of the city’s favorite ven- tanitas. Published earlier this year, Ventanitas is quite literally the perfect coffee table book about coffee. BEST LITERARY PERIODICAL Islandia Journal islandiajournal.com instagram.com/IslandiaJournal Think Miami is a philistine, unlettered backwa- ter town? Think again, friends. Miami’s quar- terly Islandia Journal proves otherwise. This unapologetically eccentric journal has a wealth of locally authored prose, poetry, and visual art that paints a lush picture of the myths behind this swamp and the ecology of the land itself. It’s dedicated to the more esoteric side of Florida and the Caribbean — its untapped histories, leg- ends, folklore, cryptozoology, and the paranor- mal. If you ask us, it’s about time that the skunk ape and chupacabra got more love in print. Is- landia’s digital library has plenty of captivating ephemera, and following them on Instagram is a must for more archival weirdness. BEST MOVIE THEATER Regal Dania Pointe 128 Sunset Drive Dania Beach, 33004 844-462-7342 regmovies.com/theatres/regal-dania- pointe-1474 The Regal Dania Pointe’s 4DX cinema experience is big, brash, and all-encompassing — it’s nothing like your couch. A cross between a movie theater and an amusement park ride, 4DX comes with a safety warning: Enter at your own risk. Combin- ing state-of-the-art projection and sound with moving seats, specialty lighting, water effects, and even smells, 4DX creates a totally immersive ex- perience. Developed in South Korea, this new technology is considered the biggest innovation in theatrical exhibition in decades. See? The 4DX theater experience at Regal Dania Pointe crushes your couch in every way. So get up and go feel the sands shift beneath you as you trudge your way through Dune: Part 2. BEST ART HOUSE CINEMA O Cinema 1130 Washington Avenue Miami Beach, FL 33139 786-471-3269 o-cinema.org O Cinema has been at the center of film culture in South Florida since its inception. From its first location in Wynwood, its efforts to showcase the art of film — and the fun of film — soon helped it become a mini-chain, bringing indie flicks to Mi- ami Shores and North Miami Beach, too. Under the stewardship of Vivian Marthell, it continues to challenge, entertain, and educate with the sil- ver screen. Now, with one location housed in the former Miami Beach Cinematheque, O Cinema offers beach-goers and film nerds an intimate oa- sis, removed from the chaos of Washington Ave- nue. There it fosters the film community with curated selections, VR/AR experiences, and spe- cial series, like Sing-Along Sundays and collabo- rations with Flaming Classics that pair queer classics with live drag queens.
