#CMChaos with CreativeMornings/EDI
At 8.30am on Friday the 28th of September, 2018, we opened the doors of the Fruitmarket Gallery, to you - the CMEdi community. With bright smiles and warm greetings, you eagerly awaited your chance to pour a cup of freshly brewed coffee and grab some delicious Homespun Kitchen treats.
Between you and that breakfast spread, we set a #CMChaos themed challenge. To grab a name and picture - any identity but your own - and find the mystery person among the crowd. With only one hard rule, to “be nice”, you had the freedom to search in whatever creative fashion your heart desired. The results were nothing short of joyful, demonstrating the potential chaos can unleash…
Photography by Suzanne Heffron 📷
Some went “full method”, becoming who they thought their chosen person might be. Others employed sleuthing skills to discover who their chosen person believed themselves to be. Perhaps the most blissful of all, however, was those who embraced the barriers of a packed venue - choosing instead to use their hand-picked avatar as an ice-breaker, sparking conversation with those who seemed alone.
Laughter, new friends, and collaborative ideas filled the room. Together, you catalysed a positive reaction between creativity, chaos, and community.
Photography by Suzanne Heffron 📷
With new found pals, we took our seats, excited to hear from our speaker of the month. Built heritage professional, and director of the Hidden Door Arts organisation, Hazel Johnson.
Photography by Suzanne Heffron 📷
Drawing on her life as part of Hidden Door arts since its foundation, in 2014, Hazel brings extensive insights into this creative, volunteer-lead initiative. Sharing a balance of human stories and hard facts, she provided a sensitising experience for all - exposed to the inspiring realities of what it’s like creating something spectacular, out of chaos!
“All year round we:
- budget & fundraise
- promote
- partner with local organisations
- recruit, manage & support our volunteer army……I’m telling you this all not to show you that a festival is a lot of work, but to show you that things can be done!” - Hazel Johnson.
With humble beginnings as a truly grassroots initiative, it’s often been ‘leaps of faith’ that carried them through. To this day, they have never been underwritten by any single funder year to year. Run not-for-profit, the festival is funded through ticket sales, sponsorship, fundraising, and grants. Any and all money received going straight back into the festival, and its creative contributors.
Photography by Suzanne Heffron 📷
These past 5 years have seen the festival bring new life to abandoned spaces across Edinburgh and Leith. Every corner of every venue filled with art of every medium; each year increasing capacity, scope, and engagement. Throughout it all, that same small founding group acts as a mighty linchpin to a growing army of committed volunteers. Many of whom return every year - familiar faces on what has become a special kind of creative pilgrimage:
“As soon as we have the keys, we put out a call to volunteers; who we truly depend on. This army of volunteers totalled over 400 people in 2018.
The pressure’s always on to make it all happen on time. We love our volunteers. They are the essential to the heart of Hidden Door.” - Hazel Johnson.
While the love and dedication to this festival has grown exponentially over the years, increasing annual costs are putting its continuation in jeopardy. As Hazel points out, there are lots of overheads that don’t often get conveyed to the public. All of the behind-the-scenes preparation expenses, including everything from licensing fees and compulsory building surveys, to health and safety checks and facilities installations - on top of the more visible, front-facing elements that we get to see, each time we enjoy these incredible arts events, and reclaimed spaces.
So, the team have made the important - but difficult - decision to let 2019 be a year for funding focus, aiming to bring the festival back to life in 2020. This will be a proactive, community lead year of fundraising - all of which you can directly contribute to! Just head on over to the campaign site at savehiddendoor.com, where you can donate and find out more.
Also, do get in touch with the team to see how else you can be a part of keeping it all going! All of the details on how to make that happen are available on their dedicated contact page: hiddendoorblog.org/about/contact/
Whilst we had our patch of chaos covered here in Edinburgh, the global CreativeMornings community has also been busy stirring it up - in 187 cities around the world!
At #CMCluj, Romania, their speaker was famous local graffiti artist Kero Zen. Not only did he bring inspiration to the crowd in his talk, he also put them to action, collectively creating a #CMChaos graffiti mural… of epic proportions!
“It has been an incredible experience, not only for me as an organizer, but also for the audience and the speaker. Our speaker, who is one of the initiators of street art and graffiti art in Romania, challenged the audience to express their inner chaos within a collective chaos on two large canvas we have prepared in the venues. The process was funny and…chaotic. But the result was wonderful and everybody quite surprised of the beauty of a collective chaos ” - Stefania Robu, CM Cluj Host.
Over at CM Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, their speaker, Fayiz Melibary, embedded chaos into his talk. Providing creative wisdom, prompted by words submitted by attendees via instagram stories only the day before!
A dentist turned multi-media designer, he drew on a fascinating and complex world of diverse contexts. From patient care and fatherhood, to faith and community festivals. All with his sweet, enthusiastic daughter cheering him on from the audience.
With that truly awesome month of #CMChaos behind us, we hope the memories will help you all have a little more fun with disarray. After all, if the famous Dan Wieden is right, “Chaos is the only thing that honestly wants you to grow. The only friend who really helps you be creative.”
We can’t wait to see you all at our next event, all on the global theme of ‘Honesty’. May you have the good fortune to explore the global community that awaits. It’s only ever just a click away… At CreativeMornings 🗺️
