It's midnight, in Paris. In pursuit of inspiration you are walking in the empty streets until suddenly the door of a passing-by carriage opens and your luck strikes. It's Fitzgerald and Hemingway gesturing you in, offering you a drink and inviting you to settle in for a cosy conversation on literature.
That, of course, is a scene from Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, which captured the psyche of Paris in the contemporary creative consciousness. It's a salon of the salons, an open space of inspirations and discussions, where art influences design, verse encourages brush strokes, and everything is happening not in the galleries, not in museums, but in the living rooms. Even cafes are deprived of external disturbance. They are living rooms too.
It's London, 2013. In pursuit of inspiration, fresh thinking and contemporary salon-style cross pollination of art, architecture, life and design, the one place to seek out new talent - is COUP.
"I started COUP in April 2011 as a hopping organism of self-initiated exhibitions in private spaces", says Iulia Filipovscaia, COUPs founder. "Being an artist myself I knew how difficult it is to find gallery representation, bridge the gap between collector and artist and to fulfil the desire to make and show work to an audience. This led me to the concept of appropriating private flats and houses of friends and acquaintances, taking them over for a day to offer creative people a platform and an audience. Each COUP has a specific theme and often a different curator".
The 7th COUP Coup de Literature has taken place most recently, at Pushkin House in Bloomsbury Square. The theme was the great writer Alexander Pushkin and his masterpieces with entrance granted only by reciting verse.
"This was the first time that an establishment approached us to tap into the creative, contemporary energy of COUP and offer a modern perspective" says Iulia Filipovscaia.
The 'Yarn Explosion' by LANA SIBERIE greeted visitors by the entrance.
Photographer Julia Flit and jeweller EVJ invited guests to take part in an art installation, writing lines from Pushkin's verses, which were lit up on a floor-to-ceiling plexiglass screen.
The library was turned into a scene from a traditional Russian home of The Blizzard by Misha Valenki.
Veronica Peat showed her animation "Objects of Fantasy", whilst distinguished pianist Sholpan Sharbakova (www.sholpansharbakova.com) accompanied Maria Zherebtsova and Oleg Skrinda reciting Onegin.
DJ Mourrka created the party vibe and showed her installation Gagarin, Pushkin, Tolstoy, Mendeleev and Mayakovsky in jars.
Not all of the creatives exhibiting are established or professional artists. COUP is an eclectic platform, embracing and nurturing the multi-dimensional nature of our life and letting people find a way to experiment with creative expression. COUP is a place for talented and energetic moonlighters.
"An artist-lead organism COUP is open towards transformations that may occur when artists, curators, collectors and institutions come together. We love collaboration, guest curators and state of affairs that lead COUP into flux and unidentifiable something that makes it become - "an instance of successfully achieving something difficult"
COUP by Iulia Filipovscaia captures the psyche of the salon and the collective movement - the thinkers and artists of today, in the environment of the living room.
To catch the next COUP or participate
www.iuliafilipovscaia.com/COUP
To get in touch with Iulia about hosting or exhibiting email: coup@iuliafilipovscaia.com
We are told that Iulia's eyes are set on the enormous amount of fantastic buildings, castles, villas, warehouses and rooftops wherever in the world they exist.