I can’t remember which person (famous or not) said “write the future you want to live in.” It’s good advice on any day but particularly so now. But how do we do this when our worlds have shrunk, when travel beyond our neighbourhoods is at a halt or only cautiously opening up again. And when you love to travel as I do and take groups with you, what kind of future can you begin to imagine? Imagination is the key, creative thinking is the way and there is nothing that spurs a creative mind more than constraint. You may have heard of the Oulipo movement in France, a group of writers and mathematicians who use constrained writing techniques to open up new literary possibilities. Or marveled at prisoners’ ingenuity in escaping seemingly inescapable prisons. You would have witnessed the explosion of creativity in the midst of cities in lockdown: musicians singing and playing on rooftops, ordinary people inventing new ways of entertaining themselves on platforms like Tic Toc, online festivals and performances happening 24/7.
Joe Camire writes “Constraints are, in a way, a reverse Occam’s Razor—a force that removes the most obvious and mundane solutions from the table. With constraints, we’re forced to recalibrate and search for ways to solve problems that already have simple solutions.
I had the opportunity this week to do a live chat with a young Moroccan artisan living in strict lockdown in Fes. Hamza is a copper engraver, book binder, leather embosser musician and more. Unable to access the tools in his studio across town he has made use of what he had at home — a compass, a pencil, a microphone stand, a spoon, some paper, bit of elastic, and his smart phone, to set up international online classes teaching geometric design. His classes are taking off and when lock down is lifted and he gets back to the studio he will have managed to fill the gap and feed his young family in the meantime. Have a look at his website and classes here.
The chat was set up by Jess Stephens of Culture Vultures Artist Residency in Sefrou, Morocco, just half an hour away from Fes. She has set up a chat show challenge to encourage dialogues, brainstorms, sparkfests between different people in different locations across the globe. As Jess puts it: A place where brainstorming is brewed, networks nurtured and sparks may fly.
It seems like there’s been a lot of this going on lately. As one kind of border clanged shut, new borders have opened. Old values like generosity and caring have come to the fore, abandoned skills like creativity and ingenuity have been forced out of hiding. We have the possibility to write our future. What kind of future will you write?
Happy writing!
Stay tuned for new creative collaborative offerings from Jess and Jan.
A new way to travel!
Moroccan Distance Residency.
Online writing classes and guidance combined with virtual Moroccan experiences.
From Writer’s Journey and Create Escapes:
Italy Dreaming
An online retreat of classes and immersions over two weeks from Italy and Australia.
