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GIFTS IN SMALL PACKAGES

Large parcels will do for small children, but for adults, the most rewarding gifts come in envelopes. Francesca Martin marks your card, from museums to movie libraries ...

From INTELLIGENT LIFE magazine, Winter 2008

Psychologists have been known to argue that the roots of gift-giving lie in a form of displaced aggression: according to this theory, tribal leaders once swapped presents to maintain their status without resorting to warfare. You’d hope humanity has moved on; presents shouldn’t have to reflect, or confer, status. They don’t even need to be physical. Perfume goes stale, socks wear out, but a well-judged “envelope gift” has the potential to enrich the recipient’s inner life for years. 

So, which to choose? Art galleries are past masters at offering enticing extra benefits to members, but some are more generous than others. At the Royal Academy in London, £66 buys a year’s free entry to exhibitions for the member, plus a friend and up to four children aged 16 or under (so a good choice for parents or grandparents); plus special previews of shows, access to the Friends Room for a quick rest and a coffee (useful for out-of-towners), a 60-minute introductory tour and a free subscription to the RA’s magisterial quarterly magazine.

Farther afield, membership of the Guggenheim in New York—$125 for two people, or $75 for an individual ticket—gives free access to all the other Guggenheims, in Venice, Berlin, Bilbao, Las Vegas and, thinking ahead, its biggest outpost, opening in Abu Dhabi in 2011. But compare this with the formidable €2,000 the Louvre charges to become a Young Patron (young meaning, in this case, between 26 and 40) in Paris; that seems quite a lot, even if the not-so-youthful patrons do get to go behind the scenes at private events to meet curators and artists.

Exclusive access is a draw, of course, and often worth paying extra for. Both the Royal Opera House and the Old Vic theatre in London offer membership tiers with occasional access to “open” rehearsals; an opera-lover should relish the experience of watching an orchestra stop-start its way through “Aida” from the virtually empty stalls.

For those who can’t get to institutions easily enough to visit more than once or twice a year, there are other ways of making a present of cultural stimulation. For a cineaste, absorbing the mini-reviews in the monthly BFI Southbank screening guide—written with utter devotion by the British Film Institute’s programming department, and sent to members every month—is like reading a potted encyclopedia of the movies. Online rental companies such as Lovefilm give members access to DVDs from a huge library of movies old and new, no matter where they live; all you need is an internet connection and a letterbox. Music lovers who are given membership of the Album Club—run by London’s ahead-of-the-mainstream record shop Rough Trade—will be sent one well-chosen CD every month, together with a fold-out guide to ten other interesting releases.

And although keen readers can always be given a book token, there are subtler ideas out there. A subscription to the quarterly American magazine Paris Review ($55 a year outside north America) gives access to a year’s worth of new short stories, poetry and famously extensive interviews with leading authors. Past participants have included Truman Capote, E.M. Forster, Françoise Sagan and Dorothy Parker.

Finally, the gift of a pair of tickets to a lecture might not, at first glance, set the heart racing. But modern lectures—whether put on by major universities, companies or organisations such as the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA)—are enjoying a well-deserved boom (see feature on mass intelligence). There turns out to be a wide audience for an exploration of whether "Dr Who"’s Tardis could really exist (part of Cambridge University’s 2008 science festival), or an evening’s debate with Germaine Greer and Joan Bakewell on whether it’s wrong to pay for sex (recently staged by Intelligence Squared in London). Many lectures are free; even those you pay for tend to cost only around £15. A night out for two, with rich intellectual stimulation, all for £30? It’s more appetising than a book token.

Where to buy

The Album Club  UK: from £24 for three months’ membership

British Film Institute  UK: from £35

Guggenheim  New York: worldwide membership from $75

Intelligence Squared  UK (though it also has forums in Sydney and New York): lecture tickets from £15

Louvre  Paris: Young Patrons, €2,000

Lovefilm  UK: unlimited rentals for a year, from £100 (for one DVD at a time)

Old Vic  London: “Producers’ Circle” membership, from £5,000

Royal Academy  London: from £66

Royal Opera House  London: from £79

RSA  London: lecture tickets free, bookable in advance

*Prices given are for a year’s membership unless otherwise stated

Picture credit: Saquan Stimpson/monstershaq2000 (via Flickr)

(Francesca Martin is arts editor of Harper's Bazaar and a contributor to the Guardian.)