Creative Idol

UNDER THE FRAME OF "CREATIVITY UNLEASHED"

CREATIVE IDOL The training course "Creativity Unleashed!"(20202-PL01-KA105-082813) is co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Commission.

Dear Reader, I invite you to a very unique journey. The final destination of this journey depends on…you! It may result in sweet childhood memories, a pinch of inspiration, lifechanging decisions or taking the creative challenge. The journey plan has been prepared by the participants of an extraordinary training course, which took place in Jastrzębia Góra, Poland. During 7 working days, 23 individuals from France, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, and Serbia discussed and practised creativity. Here they share their creative inspirations, idols, heroes, and gurus with you. What started as an assignment aiming to better get to know each other developed into something way more significant, something unexpected even by the author of this task. It provoked the debate on what creativity means for each of us, putting aside scientific definitions, where we find it, and who we admire.

Come with us if you are missing a creative spark in your life. Come with us if you are a researcher interested in creativity. Come if you would like to know what 23 individuals with 23 backgrounds, cultures, and nations think about creative processes and what inspires them.

Have an inspirational reading!

Paulina Drzał Fundacja Instytut Innowacji

This publication collects interpretations, thoughts and reflections on creativity, creative individuals and creative inspirations of the participants of the project "Creativity Unleashed" submitted under Erasmus + KA1.

The training course "Creativity Unleashed!"(2020-2-PL01-KA105-082813) is co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Commission.

More information about the project can be found on the Facebook fanpage of the coordinating organisation: https://www.facebook.com/InstytutInnowacji

1. JULIUS VERNE My creative Idol has been my favourite writer since childhood. I always admired his way of writing, especially because he was far ahead of his time.

So my favourite writer is a french novelist, called Jules Verne.

He lived in the 19th century when there was no sophisticated technology which he was describing in his novels. The story of his most famous novel, 20 000 leagues under the sea, revolves around an ambitious scientist and his two companions who quite by accident end up on the submarine of the mysterious Captain Nemo. Later in the novel, he describes the adventures he experiences travelling through the depths of all the world's oceans and discovering previously unseen animal and plant species. He also describes how a submarine that people on the surface though was a sea monster works. It's just amazing how creative Jil Werne was and how much imagination he had during the time he lived.

Reading his novels, I have always stimulated my imagination and thought about what unexplored water surfaces really look like and whether there really is a way to the center of the earth, as he described in another novel.

For me, he is the most creative writer and a man who always awakens a child in me.

Also, the novel's journey to the center of the country has always stimulated my imagination in the same way. Since 1970, Jules Verne has held the title of the second most translated writer in the world, right after Agatha Christie, and that proves just how much he still inspires people around the world.

There is an interesting story about who inspired Jules Verne to start writing novels like this. When he was little, his teacher told him how she lost her husband, who was the captain of a ship that disappeared forever. His teacher always believed that her husband was still alive on a desert island after 30 years. This is exactly what inspired Gilles to write some of his novels.

The point is that even the most creative of us have our own creative idols.

Aleksandar Lazarevic, Serbia

2.CHARLES BUKOWSKI and more…

My 'creative idol' is myself.

Not in a narcissistic way (yeah, suuure) – I think everybody have that inside, and everyman can come to that place and see the world from that point. The incredible and neverending source of pure visions about change, about creation, about new ways of thinking and doing – all of that can be found underneath that strange and beautiful mask that we call "a person".

And all the people and "creative idols" which we adore – there is just a reflection of the deepest and truest part of ourselves.

Their works and words resonate with you because they are the trigger that touches something that is already within you. So. Ask yourself what is this SPECIAL THING about that person you love, or the work that you admire – and explore your Inner World to find something important, maybe your own SPECIAL THING. But. There is a matter that can separate you from that magical part of your consciousness. The right word for it is DANGER. You can't be creative in your "comfort zone". You can't meet yourself as a creator, doing everything in the old way or in the same way that everybody else does. Or maybe you can.

Keep questioning every sentence you hear or read. Keep questioning your own opinions. It's a great way to get inside this truly dangerous, unpredictable zone in which you can find something as beautiful as frightening. I can't tell you, that is worth it. It's risky business, and you should find the answer by yourself. Or ask more questions.

For me – Charles Bukowski is one of the figures that represent truthness in your work, authenticity and devotion to what you are doing. Bukowski, by using simple words to describe his complicated world, showed me how to make a deeper connection with my soul. And also – in some way thought me the matter of making things easier, as well in art, as life (isn't it the same?). His presence which I felt in his poems and stories - helped me in many ways, when I was in struggle, or in pain, or to lift up my joy to another level. He touched me, as the most important things in life touch – and it means that things that he describes or represents are connected with my inner truth. That is what I'm looking for in life (and I think everybody in their own way does) – things that can deeply resonate with the deepest parts of human existence – to explore, discover, find a place in life where I can be something "more than my-self".

Aleksandra Kowalczyk, Poland

3. A FRIEND OF MINE Who do you consider your creative Idol, and why?

Creativity is something I lack of. I am able to study and work hard, to have many interests but still haven't found sth that will lead me to explore it with innovation and put my creative mind into it.

Given this question, I couldn't understand If I had to pick up and describe a famous personality or someone that I know personally.

So I will describe someone that I am sure will soon combine both of the two categories above and happens to be my no1 creative, inspirational model as well.

I have known this person for half a year now, and it took me not so much to appreciate that he is living with endless creative energy upon everything.

Lucky to fall in love from a young age with something and to recognise his talents and reward them, he has a passion for music.

He plays the piano; he is a DJ and, the most impressive for me, he plays a not-so-common instrument called handpan, although he insists that it is very conventional compared to other instruments. For me, it makes sense that he says that because he feels he is just connecting subconsciously things already gained from experience. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn't really do it; they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while.

He is my creative Idol first because he has endless imagination, which I consider is the beginning of creation. He imagines what he desires, he does what he imagines, and at last, he creates it.

He is intelligently having fun with his passion, is finding the connection between his ideas, imagination and dreams - and then using curiosity to bring this innovation to life.

He is constantly pushing the boundaries of his imagination. He questions his interests and then follows them to their extraordinary, unexpected places.

He has the courage, and he is not afraid to fail. One of the biggest reasons why people never meet their creative potential is they let the fear of failure or looking stupid take over. Because of criticism both from myself and others, I've had many ideas crushed long before I had the time to solve them properly

One of the most precious characteristics that he has is his unrefined child part of the brain. Like the children learned to think out of the box before even knowing what "the box" was. They let their imagination go wild, to the point where they could even be considered creative geniuses.

Most surprising of all is when he deals with problems. Actually, he is sensing difficulties, problems of gaps in information, making guesses about these deficiencies, and testing these guesses. He doesn't see problems" only innovative ideas to solve a given problem. He never stops into difficulties, and he avoids complaining. When stuck, creates something else.

After some recent experience I had with him, I realised that he completes also the other creative quality I had in my mind: breaking out of expected patterns in order to look at things in a different way. Since creativity is highly correlated with self-knowledge, it is important to open our minds to biases we don't know we have. And that's what he does with the self-reflection process.

He has divergent thinking, he is curious, and he lets his imagination lead and encourage his new ideas and most important, he does it for himself.

Although I highly support that creativity is not taught or learned and, of course, not forced, I still feel he is embracing my most creative life, motivates me and inspires me into action.

Athanasia Mano, Greece

4. BLAGICA For me, creative is someone who finds new ways to conduct a transformation of any kind, no matter if the change is physical/world, emotional/heart and soul or spiritual/mind and body.

My creative hero is my wife, Blagica. I am touched by her energy, the love and how passionate she is while engaged in the process of raising our two daughters, five years old Sofia and two years old Aleksandra.

During my life, I had the chance to meet, see, work with, live with or hear about different individuals with different levels of creativity, and they all left a trace, a mark, an impulse on my personal life/" my way", added transformation to how I grow, play, learn, express, form, materialise, breathe, laugh, search, explore, refresh, accelerate, interact, practice, explode/calm myself, love, care… And my creative hero and me being in a strong relationship for almost 22 years gave me exclusive insight into the transformation of my beloved human being, and I chose her to wear the crown for creativity.

The first reason for my Queen's coronation as a ruler of the Creative Kingdom is quite obvious: In front of you stands a Mother, the Ultimate Human Creator, The Nature Blessed Being that protected, nourished and delivered to live two miracles. Some may argue that there isn't a lot of targeted creativity involved in the abovementioned, but I don't want to take part in that discussion; what is said is not a theorem.

The second reason for the chosen creative Idol is all of the planned and carried action, the enthusiastic engagement she fulfils besides the lack of strength, time and finances. It is marvellous when I observe; it is incredible when I contribute; it is like a fairy-tale for the girls. It is a magnificent metaphor, miracle, magic.

The third reason why my soul partner is my Creative Empress, you'll also agree with this one if you have the chance to just throw a glimpse at Sofia and Aleksandra. The love which they feel, give and take, the joy that they possess and express, the intensity and curiosity with which they start and finish something new, and the endless repetitive motions to suck all the best of it, bursting laughter and focused sight and the freedom they practice in choice, communication and emotions, gives me and would give you too the urge to just bow deeply to the Maecenas of these two beautiful masterpieces of art.

In order to finalise my elaboration, I would like to add that not only the girls are a target of the creative genius which flourishes in my creative hero. My existence and materialising in our physical world while finding and living "my true self" is deeply transformed and "lighthouse" guided by this ravishing mind and body, heart and soul. Because of her, I consider myself the luckiest man on Earth, and I endlessly love, admire and gratitude her.

"May the wind always be at your back and the sun upon your face", my beautiful warrior.

Viktor Atanasov, North Macedonia

5. IVANA My creative Idol showed up somewhere in 2016 in one temporary refugee camp for refugees. At that time, I worked in an NGO at this camp. A few years back, I was devoted to sports, nature, social party events, using my creative energy, as I used to call it – free artist. :) However, in that camp, I started to feel my creativity towards love, provoked by one beautiful smile and breathtaking eyes shining on my creative Idol named Ivana. From day to day, the creativity in me started to ignite and every day, little by little, I searched for fun, creative and playful ways to show this person what she meant to me, and slowly and naturally, my creative Idol became my creative love. We filled our together life with creative travels, together with plans for life, dreams dreamt together in one word – we created a happy and fulfilled life together. My creative Idol became to be my wife and my creative spouse.

A year and a half ago, as a result of our love, a little flame was created, and our little boy was born, our small but grand creation, our treasure. Every day we re-learn life from this small gift. Every day we re-learn from our son to listen to your inner voice, to have no consciousness of things, but to simple BE. We find his creativity as a pure drop of water, pure and clean reality because there are no thoughts, worries, constant questions, something that we adults do, but simply a pure source of life, of creation, positive energy that fulfils you with peace and happiness. Every day little by little, he lets his creation guide him, and his creation adds to ours and enriches our life. That is why he is my second creative Idol.

Dimitar Ristov, North Macedonia

6. FREDDIE and Philosophers "Is this the real-life or this is fantasy Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality."

A Night at the Opera, Bohemian Rhapsody, Freddie Mercury (Queen), 1975 Those lyrics remind me of the famous metaphoric allegory of the cave presented by Plato[1]. The allegory of the cave is a metaphor designed to illustrate human perception, ideologies, illusions, opinions, ignorance and sensory appearances. The cave is a prison for individuals who base their knowledge based on ideologies. Knowledge-based on ideologies is based on myths, sensory appearances, perception, conviction, beliefs, opinions and values. Although possible, the cave depicts that it's extremely difficult for individuals who base their knowledge on ideology to escape because they are trapped in a circle of misunderstanding and false knowledge.

The metaphor of the cave may be comprehended on an educational level; however, it should not be taken lightly due to the message that it sends and the rhetorical question that it asks. One of the main messages it sends is that in order to see clearly, an individual must gain knowledge through pure education and philosophical reasoning. The big question that it poses is that how do we know what we know is real.

Idols, for Plato, seem like shadows, something mysterious and controversial. Getting away from this darkness, we could speak about pure Ideas. Inspiration is the magic word. The way that brings us close to Ideas is an uphill journey. People got lost in their human chains need to stop pretending blindness and escape from their fake reality. That will be possible only if they imitate brilliant people. Maybe wisdom is the answer. Nowadays, rarely do we meet philosophers. We have to search for them. But, where?

This is a bet to win. We need to get rid of our individuality and adopt some daily heroes. We need to create Idol(s). Something to devote ourselves to.

Depends on the moment, the situation, the circumstances. It can be one "on the spot decision", a real madness. One flower, its odour, make us thrilled and leads our day.

One builder whistles our favourite melody, and the darkness flees.

Children play hide and seek in a block of flats. Idols are everywhere.

Transparent, mysterious. We need to see deeply in our souls to discover.

People construct idols. People can easily destroy idols. We may spill our lives believing in a fake idol. The hole dimension meets in Creation. I create, You create…

"Goodbye everybody, I've got to go Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth."

Freddie Mercury Eleni-Iliada Kopana, Greece [1] Plato, The Allegory of Cave, Republic, VII 514 a, 2 to 517 a, 7

7. MOTHER Once I was at a job interview at home, where I got exactly the same question. That time I was thinking about it for a while because I really wanted to tell someone who is well-known in my country or in the world. But I realised my creative Idol should be the one that came into my mind for the first time.

For me, creativity is not only about myself but about others as well. So it is more about how to make the environment a better place. Now it might seem a little unusual to say, but I'm sure about the fact that my creative Idol is my own mother. She always has a good solution to everything; we all can rely on her all the time. Every problem seems "nothing" when we have her in the surroundings. She learns a lot, she educates herself all the time, and most classes she takes are in connection with creativity (I can remember she did university and got her second diploma with three children under the age of 12 (since then she's making the fourth)). She is able to work, raise children and study at the same time, which needs so much creativity in life.

And besides these things, why my creative Idol is my mother: her job really needs creativity in order to be successful: she works at a place where young people live with drog problems (under the age of 18). It is some kind of therapy for them to forget illegal things and be able to go back into normal life. Life should be more than just surviving, and my mother has the chance to create a better world for them, to make them feel better without using anything which is illegal. I do not know much about this project because it's not good to tell for the others, but it seems really hard for her to manage.

What I do know is when she finds a creative program for them that is successful, she really feels herself satisfied and motivated enough to continue. All in all, my creative Idol is my own mother because even on hard days, she knows how to improve. Creativity is sometimes more important than to just creating something in order to grow: we should also use it to create a better place also for others: because after every dark, there should be a light for all of us.

Eniko Odor, Hungary

8. PAUL GOTEA Maybe it's strange, but compared to many people that have celebrities as creative idols, my creative Idol is my cousin Paul Gotea. 25 years old entrepreneur and creative, he's always surprising me with how he managed to stay on top of the market always find innovative ideas that can put him and his company on top of his competitors. Whenever I hear about a "crazy" idea on how to solve a problem or how to improve a process, I'm sure he was behind it.

But it's not just about business; it's about almost everything in life. Even though he's not really an artist or into the music, he puts all creativity into "white hacking", which just amazes me. The ability to take software apart and find flaws in the design requires someone to really think outside the box and also perseverance; you have to knock on so many doors until you find an open one.

For years before he had his business, he was freelancing and finding projects that were interesting and challenging for him. At some level, I think I can relate to that, having more or less the same mindset and mentality about things that I want to do in life. Our philosophy is that life is too short to do boring and repetitive stuff, so both of us are trying to find interesting and fascinating activities to have our brains engaged This combination of open-mindedness and persistence is something I admire, and I wish I would be able to get to the same level of creativity as him one day.

Florin Marginean, Romania

9. FRANK VINCENT ZAPPA Frank Vincent Zappa Born 21 December 1940, dead 4 December 1993.

He was an American musician, composer, songwriter, and Bandleader.

For me, his influences are deep and at many levels : -nonconformism on his music.

-Free form improvisation -Sound experiments -Musical virtuosity -Satire of American culture.

He really determined my influence on music about musique concrête, and that's why I studied « electroacoustic music » in La Cité de la Musique in Marseille, it was before the dictature COVID when everything was easier (sic).

Also, as I actually work in a Theater company, there is a real sense of irony and theatricality in the way Frank Zappa treated music and voices, with a lot of part of the conversation and very expressive cuts on his music.

He created a universe where animals talk with food and human, and this kind of surrealistic topic talk to me so much…

In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed rock, pop, Jazz fusion, Orchestral and musique concrête works and produced almost all of the 60-plus albums that he released with his band The Mothers of Invention and as a solo artist.

Zappa also directed feature-length films and music videos and designed album covers.

He is considered one of the most innovative and stylistically diverse musicians of his generation.

Jeremie Dessertine, France

10. SABINA SPIERLEIN Although I found the idea of a creative idol problematic at this point in my life, it prompted me to reflect on the strong figures that held importance for the periods of my life and their symbolic meaning. Figures that wheeled the processes of becoming myself by motivating me towards a certain passion of mine helped me exercise a part of me I was yet to discover. These were figures of people I had never met personally; more so, they were fictionalised or idealised.

During my early adolescence, I have acquired a lot of my creative masculine identity from an American comic book writer/musician Gerard Way. Sometimes to the point of borrowing his identity, mannerisms, sense of fashion to form a shelter and take me through the confusing times of being a teenager. My possibly false sense of female identity came from a WelshGreek performer/songwriter Marina Diamandis which helped me shape my early adulthood where femininity seemed to me as a type of self-reflective deception. Those figures, although now tinged with a sense of embarrassment seen from the perspective of time, nevertheless allowed me to expand and explore my identity. Functioning as a type of mirror I could reflect myself in. But still unattainable, put on a pedestal, recognised in their human-like form but seen merely as an image I could mimic.

In ancient times idols were an image of divinity, and as people, I think we are prone to worship a type of god we choose for ourselves to remind us of an ideal. Ideals that can't be people, as people are fickle creatures. In my late twenties, the need for an identity to latch onto or an image to mimic is weaker than in my teens, which might be prompted by a larger reflection on the visual meaning itself. There might be a need for less of an idol but a guru of words and guidance.

I could say then that a type of Idol I latched onto recently and maybe even wanted to become his worshiper was a psychoanalyst Carl Gustav Jung.

Jungian analysis is an unquestionable grounding in many disciplines with its wide applications. C.G.Jung's ideas represent him as a great man of great achievements, a god of his religion. And like in ancient times, gods get abolished.

Abolished by Sabina Sperlein. Sabina was the first patient of Carl Jung after being admitted to a psychiatric clinic in Zurich in 1904 diagnosed with 'hysteria'. After she was treated, she continued as Jung's research assistant and his close friend; she decisively contributed to the formation of his basic concepts of anima, persona, individuation and shadow and the unconscious, as well as mythology. After moving to Vienna, Spielrein prefigured one of Freud's most fundamental theories of the interplay between sex drive and death drive exploited by him. She exchanged letters with Jung and also Freud until the day she died in Holocaust; after that, she was almost completely erased from history.

Spielrein was a forerunner who foresaw many concepts we now recognise as fundamental to psychoanalysis. Both men quoted her in their publications, but due to many new translations, those annotations were usually removed; therefore, concepts we associate with Jung and Freud often start and end with them.

Sabina's story itself, formed from her recovered diaries and discovered papers, is a cautionary tale about fortune, disloyal memory of history and bogus idols. Symbolically her character is, for me, a woman that, balanced between both worlds, saw the human psyche from inside out. She is a symbol of feminine energy that bases on her own experience and enters the masculine world of 'knowledge'. A symbolic person like that could work in this instance as a kind of allowing energy to take a certain path that we were unclear on and to transition.

I'd like to quickly recount a very important dream I had a couple of years ago after finishing university that will hopefully underline while Sabina's story resonates with me on a personal level. It was a dream in which I was on a school trip, knocking on the door of one of my teachers. I wanted to tell her that before I went to Art School that led to studying Filmmaking, later on, I also qualified to go to Lyceum with a Psychology profile. I treated the former as more of an achievement as my actual manual skills were judged, not my grades. But the feeling I had in a dream was that at that stage in my life, I saw myself as more of a 'case' than a future psychologist. Meaning that very early on, I decided for myself that I'm not an intellectual.

The symbolic meaning of Sabina Spierlein would be, in this case, a shift or allowing for a shift that narratively comes from her story. She was a patient of Jung, and she then carried on to be a physician herself. The root of her shift came from her own personal experience and curiosity, which power sourced her research. The story of Sabina is allowing me to make sense of my own. She functions for me as a type of a symbolic shapeshifter, a seminal creative idol.

Judyta Potocka, Poland

11. LISA SMIRNOVA My creative hero(ine) is Lisa Smirnova. She is a Russian artist from St Petersburg. She is expressing her creativity in textile, traditional and digital art.

Her style reminds works of 3 years old child, but it is still guided by classical composition and colour theory, which impresses me the most. Her embroidery works look like paintings, which is so hard to achieve only with needle and thread. She implements stories from her dreams, abstraction and life sketches in her works. It's important to tell a few words about her house.

Lisa is expressing herself at interior design at home: every wall is painted in a colour of her choice, on some walls, it's allowed to draw, all pieces of everyday life activity are also part of the composition, which makes her apartment look like an art exhibition. She also has a dog with the biggest ears you have ever seen.

Karina Dinnyes, Hungary

12. MARIA LISTRA I can say that my creative Idol is an opera singer, soprano Maria Listra from Estonia.

I have considered her my Idol for years.

She started singing at the age of 3 and has been in the hearts of Estonians ever since, right now, she is 32. As a child, she won children's singing competitions for several years in a row, and she is also called a prodigy. She went to high school in London, and after high school, she graduated university there too.

After she came back to Estonia, she got her dream roles in theatres and started musical school with her best friend, and they started teaching musical musics to kids.

She won my heart about 5 years ago.

Since then, it has always been an inspiration to me that "if you really want something, you get it." And you have to dream big because dreams come true.

Also, she has inspired me to be a better person. And when you want something, then do it, and don't think twice. And you always have to be playful and don't get influenced by boring adults.

Thanks to her, I created Valentine's day concert tradition for my high school.

The person who I am today is greatly influenced by her.

Karoliine Tross, Latvia

13. SANJA LAZUKIC IMy creative Idol is a photographer from Novi Sad, Serbia. Her name is Sanja Lazukić, she's 28 years old, and her profession is graphic design, but her passion is food photography and food styling. She also likes to develop recipes.

I find her photographs inspiring, and I tend to look up to her when I photograph my own setup. It is very relaxing for me to think about the idea of the photoshoot and then work on executing it, making food or buying it, getting fresh flowers, setting up the arraignment, and photographing and editing the photos. She has her own studio full of props, which is like a dream of mine. She is using photography as a way to present her recipes and how incredibly tasty they are.

These are just some of her photos: Katarina Markovic, Serbia

14. ELLA NEGRUZZI Who is my creative Idol?

My creative idol is Ella Negruzzi. Ella Negruzzi stood out as the first woman lawyer in Romania, but also in Eastern Europe, suffering enormously due to discrimination in this field. She was a prominent figure in the Romanian women's movement in the interwar period. She was born in 1876 in Iasi, and after graduating, she asked to be a lawyer, but her application was revoked on the grounds that she was a woman and women had no rights at that time. Ella Negruzzi did not give up and, after the first refusal, followed the second request, then the third. And for each of the negative answers he received, he even fought with their weapons, the lawyers'. After several lawsuits that lasted almost six years, Ella Negruzzi became the first woman lawyer in Romania.

Why is my Idol creative?

Ella Negruzzi is my creative Idol for her determination, for the courage she showed and for the way she fought to become what she wanted. Her creativity stands out in the way she even used the lawyers' own weapons, the law, to become a lawyer. It inspires me to never give up what I really want, to fight for what I want to become. Everyone deserves a creative idol like her!

Lacramioara Domide, Romania

15. ISABEL LIBRERO It was very difficult for me when I read that I had to answer that question. I had been thinking some days about the correct answer and about who inspires me in my daily day. Sometimes, especially when I was a kid, it was very clear to me who it was. However, now my idea about my creative leader is changing.

For me, my creative leader is the person who taught me and helped me to know what kind of person I want to be.

Obviously, each person can contribute with something special to our lives, but If I had to choose one important person in my life, it would be Isabel Librero (my dance teacher). I really consider her as my creative leader because she had seen me growing, making mistakes and solving them. She helped me to create the person I am today, and she had advised me how to continue in difficult times.

She teaches me to appreciate the small things, the art, the movements and my passion for Classical dance. In short, she knew how to exploit my sensitivity and creativity.

Although I have not seen her for years, I continue to consider her as one of the people who contributed the most to my life.

Maria del Mar Martinez Nosti, Latvia

16. TRINNY WOODALL In the midst of the pandemic, when I was dealing with a lot of anxiety, dissatisfaction and doubts, I was spending a lot of time on Instagram. It helped the time pass. I usually try to learn something new while using Instagram and justify the time spent using the app.

I was searching for something funny, colourful, joyful and unique. And viola, at my Explore feed, there was something like that! I have found an account that was so colourful, with a lot of videos, with a lot of makeup and clothes.

So girly! Yeah, I know! So predictable... but this account was so different from the ones we are used to seeing. The quality of the content was high. It was so educational, so classy and engaging. The woman creating the videos, Trinnz Woodall, was so eloquent that my first thought was, oh, she is such a professional in this. Later on, I have found that she really was a professional public figure with enormously successful tv shows, books and stylist works.

How come I have never heard of her before?! I am into fashion, after all.

Well... I was into fashion from my childhood, literally. I was buying fashion and lifestyle magazines, visiting various shops, educating myself on how to style myself, etc. I remember daydreaming about working for a fashion magazine. In High school, I was obsessed with Elle Magazine, buying it religiously every single month. After a beautiful and dreamy phase, I lost all my connections to a side of my personality. I was studying, and some other things were more important. I completely neglected my passion.

The posts she was creating made me do my research on her personal and professional life. It made me rethink my interests. It made me connect with my long-forgotten passion - fashion. She is such an inspiration to me. She was struggling in her twenties, doing drugs and alcohol. She became a mother in 39. She almost went broke. She founded her company in her fifties. And now, she is rocking it. Her company is successful, and her creative energy is just turning on. But how creative is she? What is she actually doing that is so magical to me? Trinny is an astonishing content creator, and she blends fashion, makeup and self-care in such a unique way. Her idea was to create innovative makeup products for women over 40 to spread the words of positivity and encouragement. In a way, she is fighting ageism in such an energetic and unconventional way. Within the makeup industry, there is pressure to expand inclusivity. Her company has it at its core.

Marketing strategy, community building, branding, that's what she does best. I see my future self in her. I see myself as an entrepreneur one day. I see myself confident, crazy in love with what I do, creating something people like and enjoy. I see inspiration in her, I see creativity as a way to do something differently, to invent something new, to motivate people, to attract the audience to follow you. That is how I see creativity and why I think she really is a creative individual.

Not afraid to fail, experimenting and creating something valuable and astonishing every day, being empathetic and willing to stand for your values, that is creativity she presents on her social media and through her company.

Marija Crnogorac, Serbia

17.TG STAN and VIRGINIA WOLF About the company: The TG STAN is a flemish company.

It creates contemporary drama shows.

The Name: TG stands for Toneelspelersgezlhap with means actors' company (we'll see later why is that) STAN stands for Stop thinking about names.

Main characteristic about the company: A show created by this company is ruled by its actors instead of being ruled by a drama director. So there is a lack of superiority in the group, and none of the members has a very precise role to play in the good running of the company.

Link with the topic: As a matter of fact, I believe that presenting what you have created leads to a better understanding.

Also, not being led by someone and creating your own boundaries allows you to have more responsibilities , which can make you proud of your work.

It also makes you want to learn by yourself, instead of being told what to learn.

Which is very different from learning to memorising.

Finally, representing what comes from you is a good way to gain confidence be proud of what you have worked on.

Virginia Woolf About her: She is an English writer from the XXth century.

She was part of the Bloomsbury group, a very open-minded group for the time, composed by a different writer, painter and artists of their XXth century.

She is famous for her feminist essays such as "A room of one's own ".

Unlike what society would think, she allowed herself to a romance with the poetess Vita Sackville-West, romance supported by her husband and her friends from the Bloomsbury Group.

Despite her genius, she suffers from a great deal of depression, we now think that she was bipolar. Her terrible sadness caused her to commit suicide on 28 March 1941.

Her famous novels: Ms Dalloway, To the Lighthouse, Orlando, A room of one's own Link with the topic: My Idol proves that despite what society thinks, you can still write and create about what truly matters to you. Moving society forward is what is essential.

Moreover, even though she was in a great deal of pain because of her mental disease, Woolf still managed to become one of the most remarkable contemporary writers of her time. In other words, there's really nothing that prevents someone from creating.

Marion Challet, France

18.PETER BROOK Peter Brook is an English theatre and film director who has been based in France since the early 1970s. He has been called "our greatest living theatre director".

Peter Brook has worked with the plays of Shakespeare and shown them in a modern way. Shakespeare is also, for me, one of the best playwrights who caught the soul of humanity. His Roya Shakespeare Company is an international team, so I try to create in the Cie Duanama. I wrote my final study essay about international theatre, also about the Peter Brook theatre.

He has been influenced by the work of Antonin Artaud and his ideas for his Theater of Cruelty. The Theatre of Cruelty is "a primitive ceremonial experience intended to liberate the human subconscious and reveal man to himself. This kind of idea is closed to my artistic research because I'm looking to reveal man to himself in order to deepen the knowledge of himself and the others. Brook's work is also inspired by the theories of an experimental theatre of Jerzy Grotowski and Bertol Brecht. The first influence we can find in the way how the actors are directed. The artists are the most important part of the show, with its body, voice and emotions that create reality. This is also how I try to work: the presence and the importance of the body and the energy or acts of doing. A theatre is also a form of the laboratory of human and personal research. It helps me to improve myself and to know better the human being.

The influence of Brecht we can find in the distanciation and in the research of poor form of Brook / as a social rôle of Brecht. In my way, I try to find/ research the abstract of things, and I love to play between in and out ( be a character or a human being/ actress). Also, for Brecht. The theatre should reflect society, and the theatrical performance should make the spectator reflect on society. Peter Brook has touched on the important subject of society. He is engaged, and an activist for the better work us me. I'm close to his "Rainbow Theory", which claims that every human being carries with him the full range of colours and origins of mankind. Mine and Brook's choice appears as an assertion against the ideology of nationalism and race.

So he is an activist in 1966 US, an anti-Vietnam War protest play. But he is also derisory us me, he has never attacted the subject directly but by offset (décalage) as for Ubu sur la butte. The best way to show it is to read the name of his theatre : In another play, Sizwe Bansi Is Dead, he has been talking about how the people become nothing without an identity book, papers and in Les Iks, African people he tries to feel the audience what is the famine to be aware and empathetic with the people starved. It's not about only seeing but also about feeling, some kind of immersion.

In the mid-1970s, Brook adapted the Indian epic poem the Mahabharata. The New York Times noted that the play "did nothing less than attempt to transform Hindu myth into universalised art, accessible to any culture. It's important car this show touched each sense, and it is also my way of working in the theatre, to take into account every sense ( light, voice, music, smell, touch during the interaction ….), the show is hole construction that should touch the human being as a whole, and deeply, it should immerse him. But the show is also some kind of ritual touching the audience in its universal human part that can construct some kind of inter-subjective perception, feeling to take part of WE. The last thing but not least is about his theorise of the empty space. The Empty Space is defined by Brook as "[A]ny space in which theatre takes place."

"I can take any empty space and call it a bare stage. A man walks across this empty space whilst someone else is watching him, and this is all that is needed for an act of theatre to be engaged" So it's also about the active role of the audience that completed the empty space of the show through its own imaginary and internal contents.

Finally, he is touched by Africa and Les IKS, me by Kogis and South America.

One of my dreams is to cross South America in order to present One show inspirited by Kogis life. our improvisations in villages, in public places, at markets and wherever we would have the opportunity Monika Śmiechowska, France

19. ME, MYSELF and MY PAST EXPERIENCES Creativity. What is creativity? No one has found one answer yet. For some people, creativity is drawing pictures, for others is creating music, and for someone else, creativity is the process of making a dress. Creativity is so much more than that, creativity is thinking differently than others, using unconventional things as inspiration, creativity is finding the easiest way to do a simple task. But why do we have to connect creativity with another person?

Why idolise someone for the way they do things? Some people are inspired, for example, by a celebrity or a designer, and they choose that exact celebrity to be their creative Idol.

But I don't look at creative idols that way. I don't have a creative idol, I am my own creative Idol, and my past experiences are my creative idols. I try to progress every day by facing myself and my past experiences, I try to find new creative ways of doing things.

I draw inspiration from my own unique perception of the surroundings. Each individual perceives the world differently, which influences the way they act, behave, look, feel and express themselves. I strongly believe thatthere is no single form of art, and the way we live can be an art itself, as the everyday activities of each person are his/hers own creation hence the way we do things can be perceived as creativity.

Moreover, and in accordance with the previous statement, I believe that past experiences and trauma may influence our creativity as we continue to find ways to express ourselves. This form of expression can be a result of what we've experienced, and in addition to experience, out the core, who we are as people, that creates our unique way of creating.

In conclusion, I strongly believe that connecting to our deepest self can be the best form of inspiration and creativity.

Jana Petrovska, North Macedonia

20. MERAKI What is a creative idol for me? I don't really think I have idols in my life, but for sure, there are people I admire. So a creative idol for me it could be a person that lives he lives in a creative way. When you hear the word, creativity the first thing that comes to mind is an artist, a painter, a musician. But it could be more than this. Creativity is such an abstract thing that doesn't count with results such as paintings or music songs.

Have you ever thought about the "art of life"? Well, in this case, creativity has to do with finding new ways to exploit every minute of your existence. It's about aesthetics you want to have and the quality you give to simple everyday things. Actually, creativity and taking care are quite closely connected. In that way, creative Idol is the person that puts some extra care on things, as we call it "meraki", to create something according to the standards that he put in his life.

The creative part is what gives taste in life and, at the same time, keeps you alive. The urge for creation is a need that people experience for ages. This is the reason why we try our best to succeed in the life game, and that's why every person should consider a creative idol for himself.

Nikos Apostolidis, Greece

21. PETER SZABO My creative Idol is a Hungarian man called Peter Szabo.

He is a motivational speaker, the "Hungarian Brian Tracy". He has lots of videos up on the internet, in his latest project, he talks to famous Hungarian entrepreneurs. It gives me lots of ideas and inspiration, I tend to get up for his morning meditation. If I run out of my momentum, I just watch one of his videos or read his book where he reminds me of the most important things in life through different perspectives.

He became a homeless millionaire by changing his thoughts. This is the basis of everything I think, "what you think you become". He has written several books with a holistic approach, his main topics being how to achieve your goals, how to improve yourself so as not to hurt yourself in the meantime, and always remain grateful. He wrote his most important books with his role model Brian Tracy and gives lectures to hundreds of thousands of people, he is the one who also helps me to be creative and motivated in everyday life. I have to think positively, because thoughts have creative power, and most importantly, I always turn to the other with gratitude and love.

It gives me a lot of useful advice to help me use my creativity in everyday life.

It confirms that I can do what I imagine, so I keep coming up with creative ideas.

My favourite book from him (and Brian Tracy): "Time" Mira Nyilas, Hungary

22. NICOLAE COVACI Always a creative man. He's a composer, guitarist, singer, painter, scenarist, passional leader.

He is best known for his compositions in the Phoenix band. Most of the bands' songs were composed by him. He was inspired mostly by Romanian folklore, but not only. He got inspired by balcanic folklore, a lot of Celtic influences, pre-Christian chants and invocations of mystic creatures as well.

In 2022, the band will have its 60th anniversary. During these 60 years, he was the only constant member. Except for him, the band had about 50-60 other members until now, the youngest being the current guitarist who entered the band at the age of 8. So he kept the Phoenix story alive during these years through a lot of difficulties, from being banned by the communist party to being betrayed and actually robbed by his band members.

In the '70, he had a fake marriage with a woman from the Netherlands in order to be able to get out of the country, hoping that in the west, he would find a better future for the band. In '78, he returned to Romania, got the band together and organised some concerts. During the biggest concert organised then, he took the band members and hid everyone of them in some big Marshall speakers, smuggling them across the borders, to the Netherlands and later to Germany where he was betrayed again by the band members. But he kept the story alive, and in 1990 after the fall of communism in Romania, he returned and got the band together.

Back in Romania, he has been betrayed, cheated and robbed by 10 managers.

But this doesn't stop him. He still finds ways to keep the story alive.

Besides bands songs, he composed 2 musicals and 2 movie scripts. He also painted a lot. The band played in 2 old movies, one about the war with the ottomans and the other one about some secret agents.

No matter the situation he encountered, he always found a way to keep the story alive and Phoenix it's still rebirth from the ashes.

So Nicu Covaci is one of my creative muses.

Remus Bobarnac, Romania

23. FEDERICO GARCIA LORCA, BOB MARLEY and MATIAS In my mind, I do not have got anyone Idol. During my life, there have been many people who have influenced me artistly. From the writers, photographers or musicians. I'll quote some of them. As a writer, Federico Garcia Lorca. Spanish writer was death during the Spanish Civil War by the fascist party. His work is based on traditional values from the countryside people, free love and the fight for human rights. He is influencing on me changing some opinions about worker rights and to appreciate the details of living in the countryside. Otherwise, as a musician, Bob Marley. I am a loyal follower of him. Since I was a kid, as my parents and me, we have been listening to his music. I admire from him the fight for the rights of Jamaica and his people. As a lover of music and player guitar, his music is delicious, simple with vibes and a direct message.

Finally, I'd say as a beginner and interested photographer, I am starting to become. My friend Matias has influent on me a lot. Before to come to my European service, he taught me everything what I knew about the photographer's land. I admire him because of when I go away to take a picture, or just I have to make a design for our social media. I pay attention to the colours, what I have to use, the perspective of the picture I have to do.

Doing to me that to discover an unexplored world. I'd like to attach a picture I did in Latvia, and It reflects the meaning of my words.

Tomas Millan, Latvia

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