February Is Ethics

We navigate the muddy waters of ethics every day. They’re present in everything from the values we define for our identities to how we interact with clients to the principals of engaging with other creative work on the internet. How have ethics, particularly in the creative world, evolved since their philosophical conception? Why do we create these codes of ethics in the first place? When should we examine what dictates our conscience? And what really makes up a solid, moral value system, anyway?

This month, 133 CreativeMornings chapters are exploring questions like these — and what their various and complex answers might be.

The theme was chosen by our Madrid chapter and illustrated by the Madrid-based CESS (César Cid). Gear up to have your perceptions challenged at events with speakers like:

• Felecia Hatcher, a White House Award winning social entrepreneur and Founder of Code Fever and BlackTechWeek (Ft. Lauderdale)
• Adam Fletcher, a comedy writer interested in how technology might be contributing to lower wages and temporary employment (Berlin)
• Brandy Burdeniuk, a collaborator, teacher and troublemaker who works with her team to help get people excited about sustainable buildings (Edmonton)
• Kylie Walters, a dancer, actress and choreographer curious about how we navigate ethical questions linked to cultural appropriation in an increasingly interconnected world (Geneva)

Find an event near you! Chapters continue adding events on this page throughout the month, so we recommend signing up for your city’s local newsletter and/or following your city’s chapter on Twitter for up-to-the-minute information.

Follow this month’s conversation on Twitter and Instagram with #CMethics and @creativemorning!

PS: curious about our values? Check out our manifesto!

CreativeMornings with Courtney Sina Meredith

Friday 29 January, 8-9.30am
Lot 23

Communities are built on common ground and sustained by human connection. That connection is driven by communication, and communication is achieved with language. Yet our CreativeMornings community shares many more languages than the 40+ we speak. There are so many languages of CreativeMornings: generosity, love, hugs, high-fives, passion, excitement, creativity — the list goes on. Really, language boils down to expression. And isn’t that what creativity is really about?

Our first speaker for 2016 is well versed in the language of creativity. Courtney Sina Meredith is a poet, playwright, fiction writer and musician. Her play Rushing Dolls (2010) won a number of awards and was published by Playmarket in 2012. She launched her first book of poetry, Brown Girls in Bright Red Lipstick (Beatnik), at the 2012 Frankfurt Book Fair. Meredith was the Bleibtreu Berlin writer in residence 2011, she has an upcoming residency in Sylt (Northern Germany) in 2016 before she launches her new book of short stories Tail of the Taniwha later in the year. In 2014 she was a guest of the BBC to the House of Lords and in 2015 she represented New Zealand at the Mexico City Poetry Festival.

Meredith is the Partnerships Manager for the Faculty of Creative Arts MIT, her role is to lead on the development and implementation of commercial and industry opportunities. The role builds on her previous experience in commercial partnerships management in London and her time as an Arts Advisor for Auckland Council.

The power of her work is evident in performance and on the page. Meredith’s neologism for the energetic, urban, polygot culture of contemporary Auckland that brings the island and the city into profound collision, and acts as the crucible of new global identities.’

Join us on Friday 29 January at LOT23, for breakfast and inspiration from Courtney. Registrations open on Monday 25th January from 11am.

Photo Credit: Jane Ussher

January’s Theme: Language! 

For more, check out https://creativemornings.com/blog/january-is-language

Morning Person: Hannah McMenamin

At our 4th Birthday Party in October we were treated to G & Teas, thanks to Forage and Bloom Teas and Rogue Society Gin. Forage and Blooms roots are embedded within herbal medicine, holistic philosophy, and the synergy between people and plants. Quality and sustainability matters to them. Their organic herbs are hand blended in small batches to ensure optimal freshness and potency. No sweeteners or flavourings are added.

Forage and Bloom will be joining us at this month’s CreativeMornings talk  with a fresh brew, and we’re looking forward to seeing and tasting their teas at more CreativeMornings in the future, but until then we thought it was time you met the person behind Forage and Bloom, Hannah McMenamin.

Who are you?
I am Hannah. Naturopath and Herbalist - passionate about people and plants.

What gets you up in the morning?
Coffee, then tea - and all of the things that must get done!

Explain what you do in five words or less…
Bring herbs to the people.

What’s a surprising fact about you?
I’m really good at perfectly folding sheets, strategically packing cars, and I speak Italian.

Tell us about your creative community:
It’s an eclectic mix of thinkers and do-ers with never a dull moment and plenty of ideas to go around.

Best piece of advice you’ve received?
A good friend once advised me to think of all the things I need to do as a pack of cards. There is no way you can look at all the cards at once, just take the top card, look at it, deal with it, move on to the next.

Who would you love to hear speak, alive or dead?
Albert Eintstein - because of his perspective on the synergy between philosophy and science.

When you get stuck creatively, what is the first thing you do to get unstuck?
Go for a long brisk walk in nature – this always clears my mind and revitalises me.

What’s your Secret Superpower?
I have a sixth sense when formulating herbal blends.

What’s the most recent thing you learned?
If you put your phone on flight mode overnight, your alarm still goes off, its saves your battery, and you don’t get the wifi vibes in your sleep.

What shocks you the most about Auckland?
Its diverse natural beauty.

Check out Forage and Bloom at http://forageandbloom.co.nz/

Meet the Artists: Jess Holdaway

In October we celebrated our 4th Birthday, and launched a series of art prints inspired by the wise words of a few of our past CreativeMorning/AKL speakers. A selection of talented artists & designers from our community have taken these quotes and crafted a stunning collection of art prints.

We’re introducing you to these talented individuals, and pointing you to the talks from which they gained their inspiration.

This week: the dope Jess Holdaway

For our SHOCKtober exhibition Jess took the words of Sarah Longbottom from Nga Rangitahi Toa, who spoke to the theme of Failure in August 2014. Watch the talk that inspired this poster here!

“Failure only exists in doing, and has nothing to do with being” by Jess Holdaway.

Jess Holdaway is a Graphic Designer who works at Curative, and co founder of social business Frank Stationary, which is helping children in need in New Zealand. Passionate about making connections and thinking about the world differently, she hopes to contribute to culture through creative design thinking. Eager to learn and passionate about people, Jess dreams of applying her Graphic Design skills to make the world a better place.

Who are you?
Jessica Holdaway

What gets you up in the morning?
My Alarm on my iPhone, and the sometimes annoying but lovely birds that sing by my window.

Oh and the thought of hot cup of tea. Yum!

Explain what you do in five words or less…
I make things all day.

What’s a surprising fact about you?
Some of my childhood was spent in South Africa, where I would frequently bring home snakes and insects to show my parents.

They bought me hiking boots and taught me to stomp my feet loudly (to scare away the snakes) so that I could keep going on a little adventures in the bush.

Tell us about your creative community:
The creative I am a part of is wonderful!

Creative Mornings, Design Assembly, and a drawing club of about 4 of us that meet to draw/watch youtube clips together.

I will also claim that Gemma O'brien, Jessica Hische and Erik Marinovich are part of my creative community even though they don’t know that, because I am a fan girl.

Best piece of advice you’ve received?
If something is worth doing, its worth doing it badly until I can get good at it.

Don’t avoid the ‘ugly’.

Who would you love to hear speak, alive or dead?
Ted talks are a dream to me because I get to hear so many amazing people talk. I’m sure that I haven’t yet discovered my ultimate 'speaker’ yet. They are out there somewhere.

When you get stuck creatively, what is the first thing you do to get unstuck?  
Go on a quest to learn something new. Anything at all. Learning something new and having fresh information in my brain seems to kick start my creativity.

What’s your Secret Superpower?
I can do the “ahh ahh ahh ahh ahh” voice that Eminem does in his song “Just lose it”

What’s the most recent thing you learned?
I just recently learnt how much the army controls what is on our super market shelves.

What shocks you the most about the creative process?
How easily it can either inflate and deflate your ego.If I’m feeling stuck creatively, I always have to be aware that it’s not about my identity as a designer, it’s just a moment of being stuck.Your level of creativity is not a measure of your worth, but rather a gift that you give to others. The more you give, the more you have.

Jess’ print is available for purchase from Endemic World. By buying this print you’ll be supporting CreativeMornings/AKL, helping us to continue providing you with breakfast and inspiration. Plus you’ll get a rad piece of art for your wall! Chur.

CreativeMornings with Jonah Merchant
8.00am-9.30am, Friday 27 November
Neck of the Woods

The CreativeMornings community is full of people and projects who are putting in the work—the good work, the hard work, the unpopular work—to improve their communities. Whether that work is done online, in collaboration, with partners, in solitude; with hands, love, sweat, or grit—we are celebrating the workers and the makers; the work and the creations.

Talking in Auckland this November is Jonah Merchant, the co-founder and CEO of the co-working and collaboration network - BizDojo. With a mission to unleash peoples potential, BizDojo creates environments, events, programs and projects that promote an active, experimental and collaborative culture that helps peoples passions thrive.

This dynamic kind of work suits Jonah well, channeling over 15 years of experience in digital production and innovation management into the strategic vision (and everyday randomness) that makes BizDojo tick.With a passion for design-led user-focussed projects, Jonah is interested in solutions that help people create, collaborate and work better. This has seen him instrumental in the creation of everything from an avenue for designers to access Kickstarter before crowdfunding platforms were available in NZ to establishing a maker-space, and a litany of art exhibitions, 3D printing adventures and more all under the BizDojo umbrella.

Today Jonah, co-founder Nick and the BizDojo crew operate the GridAKL Innovation Precinct in Auckland, The Wellington Tech Hub - Collider Wgtn, and their own spaces BizDojo Auckland and Wellington. BizDojo also dabbles in its own experiments, such as venue and late night hang out Neck of The Woods and Dakai, who support innovative NZ companies with a view to working in China. And that’s not all, the Dojo Crew have more plans for expansion tucked under their hats…

Join us on Friday 27 November to hear Jonah talk about his adventures and experiments. Tickets will be released Monday 23 November from 11am.

Semi-Permanent is going down in Wellington next Tuesday 17 Nov and the line up is KILLER! We’ve got a double pass to giveaway if you can get yourself to The Embassy for it.

Just tell us which of the speakers you’re hanging out to see to enter the draw. Entries close Friday at 12pm.

https://www.semipermanent.com/event/wellington-2015

Meet the Artists: Meghan Geliza

In October we celebrated our 4th Birthday, and launched a series of art prints inspired by the wise words of a few of our past CreativeMorning/AKL speakers. A selection of talented artists & designers from our community have taken these quotes and crafted a stunning collection of art prints.

Over the next few weeks we’re introducing you to these talented individuals, and pointing you to the talks from which they gained their inspiration. 

This week: the magical Meghan Geliza

For our SHOCKtober exhibition Meghan took the words of Illustrator Dylan Horrocks, who spoke to the theme of Ink in March 2015. Watch the talk that inspired this poster here!

“When we make art, the landscape that we are really exploring is the landscape of the human imagination.” by Meghan Geliza.

Meghan Geliza’s Pop Surreal paintings are of worlds swirling in explosive colour, of the metaphysical and the whimsical. Her work references nature, sacred geometry and recurring patterns in the universe, to comment on our inherent connection with everything. Her work can be seen from collectors’ walls in Germany, to upcoming shows in London and LA and  has manifested as large scale panel paintings, skate decks, jewellery, murals and projections on live theatre and performance.

We spent five minutes digging into what makes Meghan tick....

Who are you?
Meghan Geliza / Pop Surreal painter and creator and doer of things at Curative. Also a long time yoga devotee and currently weirdly addicted to Japanese curry!

What gets you up in the morning?
Morning snuggles, quick yoga stretches and the smell of tea. When I can, I love waking up really early before the sun rises and catching that quiet hour to meditate and do a few scribbles or sketches. A lot of the time though, I’m a slow waker and takes me 20 mins to get out of bed after the alarm has gone on. So I’m either really zen in the morning, or really frazzled!

Explain what you do in five words or less…
Maker of things ideas explorer

What’s a surprising fact about you?
I’m a closet hippie! I love exploring the mysteries, things about the nature of the mind, humanity and our existence, and our connection to anything and everything. I love the crossover of quantum physics and buddhism/yoga principles. I think the rise of science and humanism in our civilisation is great and is essential, to counter thousands of years of religious oppression and superstition. However, I personally believe we need a balance of rational thinking and openness to spirituality, if only at least, to see our planet as more than just an inanimate thing and more as a being we can respect and care for. So at least, we can engage with our capacities as makers and not just be passive consumers. So at least, we can relax a bit as rational people and not battle with our minds all the time.

Tell us about your creative community:
I feel lucky everyday to be surrounded by really inspiring, kick ass, generous and brilliant minds who are so engaged with their life and life’s work. My Curative family, my painter/street artist friends from around the world, my yoga friends and my family are all doing really cool things that are always inspiring to me.

I also collect mentors, dead and alive. To me, their works, sitting somewhere in the ether in book, article, painting, podcast, or photo form are my teachers.

Best piece of advice you’ve received?
Fear is the disempowering use of the imagination.

Who would you love to hear speak, alive or dead?
Molly Crabapple is one of my heroes. She’s a brilliant artist / writer / activist from New York who creates beautifully feminine but deeply subversive work that responds to everyday injustices in our society. She’s such a power femme. She went to Guantanamo Bay to see first hand what it’s like. She was active during the Occupy Wall Street days. And she did a solo exhibit on the financial troubles of 2011, then used Kickstarter to fund it, so the show is truly by the people, not by the wealthy gatekeepers she was commenting on.

For someone dead, I would love to meet Josephine Baker.

When you get stuck creatively, what is the first thing you do to get unstuck?  
I look at my favourite paintings. It always works in expanding my mind beyond my little stuck head.

What’s your Secret Superpower?
I can usually replicate dishes by taste. It’s a fun game I used to play with my mom, as she was the one who taught me this skill. Cooking is one of my favourite things to do in the world :)

What’s the most recent thing you learned?
I just learned of Blackalicious’ Blazing Arrow album!

Also, the difference between martyr energy and trickster energy, and how susceptible creatives are to the former, when really, all creativity ultimately comes from that trickster, jester, playful place. It’s just our minds adding the drama and the unnecessary suffering sometimes as a badge of honour.

What shocks you the most about the creative process?
That you can create something from absolutely nothing. Like, something is in your head and then suddenly, it’s a thing. I love that about the creative process.

Find Meghan on Twitter, Instagram or at her website.

Meghan’s print is available for purchase from Endemic World. By buying this print you’ll be supporting CreativeMornings/AKL, helping us to continue providing you with breakfast and inspiration. Plus you’ll get a rad piece of art for your wall! Chur.

Morning Person: Yeshe Dawa (The Midnight Baker)

At our 4th Birthday Party in October we were treated to some shockingly delicious toast treats care of bloomin’ brilliant bread-maker, The Midnight Baker. Motivated by a love of baking treats late at night and a desire to find wholesome, healthy alternatives for people with special dietary requirements, Yeshe created the Freedom Loaf, a Gluten and Dairy free bread alternative.

Yeshe can be found at La Cigale Markets every Sunday morning from 9am - 1pm with fresh bread and Toast with toppings, or head to her webiste to find how to get your hands on a Freedom Loaf. 

We’re looking forward to seeing Yeshe and her tasty treats at a few more CreativeMornings in the future, but until then we thought it was time you met The Midnight Baker 

Who are you?
Yeshe Dawa / The Midnight Baker.  Baker of gluten, wheat, dairy, egg, yeast and refined sugar free bread in the evening hours.  Consumer of treats. Addicted to nut butters.  

What gets you up in the morning?
The thought of enjoying a really delicious breakfast.  During winter that’s creamy rice porridge with home made chia seed fruit jam and coconut yoghurt on top.  In summer it’s smoothies with lots of cacao, frozen banana, spinach, almond milk and anything else interesting and yum I can find in my cupboard.

Explain what you do in five words or less…
Measure, mix, bake, slice, eat.

What’s a surprising fact about you?
I’m a huge Classical History nerd. I learnt how to read Ancient Greek at university and was / am pretty obsessed with Alexander the Great.

Tell us about your creative community:
My friends and family would be at the core of my creative community.  I’m fortunate to be surrounded by so many inspiring people, especially women, who are striving for and attaining success in their different fields.  

At a wider focus, it extends to people I don’t know personally but whose work I follow and which inspires me.  

Best piece of advice you’ve received?
Choose to respond, not to react.

Who would you love to hear speak, alive or dead?
It’s hard to choose just one, but I really like hearing the Dalai Lama speak.  The philosophical information would be gold, but I also feel like he would have a wicked sense of humour and that he’d be great to hang out with.

Wild card? Potentially Alexander the Great.

When you get stuck creatively, what is the first thing you do to get unstuck?  
Honestly? I usually go to the kitchen and wander around hoping something delicious will materialise.  Sometimes I go find the flat cat and talk to her for a bit.   Then I probably go online to look at some of my favourite blogs or Instagram accounts for some visual inspiration.  

What’s your Secret Superpower?
Being able to make the exact mix for a mini banana cake for two in under 5 minutes.

What’s the most recent thing you learned?
Apparently if you end a shower with a 30 seconds of cold water, you’ll get an endorphin kick for the start of your day.  I’ve only been game enough to try it twice…

Also that the Italian word for Flowers is ‘fiore’.

Alright, stop, Collaborate and … bake!

Find out more about Yeshe and The Midnight Baker at her website, www.themidnightbaker.co.nz or follow her on Facebook and Instagram

Meet the Artists: Kate Hursthouse

Last week we celebrated our 4th Birthday, and launched a series of art prints inspired by the wise words of a few of our past CreativeMorning/AKL speakers. A selection of talented artists & designers from our community have taken these quotes and crafted a stunning collection of art prints. 

Over the next few weeks we’ll introduce you to these talented individuals, and point you to the talks from which they gained their inspiration. 

First up: the wonderful Kate Hursthouse!

Kate Hursthouse is a former architect turned illustrator, calligrapher and designer based in Auckland, New Zealand. She is known for her calligraphic and typographic illustration based artworks. Her love for words and letters stems from studying calligraphy, an ancient art form that has become lost due to the onset of computers.

Her detailed illustrative works use the structure of typography as the foundation to explore pattern and texture. Using different tools, textures and materials she currently explores how you can manipulate letterforms to the point where you create texture from language. This exploration can be found in Kate’s debut solo show Enigma, showing at LOT23 until 3 Dec.

Find Kate on Twitter, Instagram or at her website.

For our SHOCKtober exhibition Kate took the words of Threaded Magazine’s Kyra Clarke, who spoke to the theme of Freedom in June 2014. Watch the talk that inspired this poster here!

“Where does creative freedom come from?” by Kate Hursthouse

Kate’s print is available for purchase from Endemic World. By buying her print you’ll be supporting CreativeMornings/AKL, helping us to continue providing you with breakfast and inspiration. Plus you’ll get a rad piece of art for your wall! Chur.