Gaella Gottwald

“ Creativity: a future method “

 

IN A NUTSHELL:

• IED Roma
• Founder at The Hemp Platform

We have the pleasure to show a great contribution of Gaella Alexandra Gottwald – IED Alumni of IED Roma.

She grew up on three continents and, as an artist and entrepreneur in culture, visited the rest of the world.

She gained experience in various creative sectors: curator, documentary maker, gallery owner and art dealer.

For many years she travelled collaborating with local communities from Mozambique to Italy and Indonesia, working on projects dealing with traditional craftsmanship and sustainable design and using art as a means of empowerment.

In the video IEDXDubrovnik, Gaella describes the experiences that shaped her, saying that even if we were not born as artists, everyone has a wonderful gift to build a better future: creative abilities. 

Gaella invites us also to meditate on the fact that we should prefer collaboration rather than competition.

As a matter of fact, competition feeds the ego while collaboration feeds the soul. 

Q: could you tell us something about your life and professional journey? Where did it all start from?

A.: well, both my life and professional have not been linear. What has been consistent is my nomadic ways, curiosity and search for creative situations.  I have noticed patterns throughout my life, which professionally manifests in that I tend to work 7 years in an institutional setting, then just as much freelancing, this seems to be a way for me to understand both sides of the story and to maintain balance.  I wear many hats in my career and somehow that works for me and keeps me evolving.

Over time and with the various experiences I have had, I see how I use creativity as a tool first for communication and exchange and now for problem-solving.

 

Q: what did you really appreciate about your IED experience in 2003?

 

“ IED for me was a place of creative fermentation.  It was an amazing experience to be surrounded by creatives from around the world, and have the luxury to be learning and creating simultaneously. “

 

A.: one realizes later on, how precious these moments were for defining one's identity learning the skills to use one's talents and making them into a profession. IED gave me confidence in the work I do.  I had finished a degree in Milano for communication design, and then later in Rome, I took a course for graphic design.  IED became synonymous for me with mastering and evolving my creative potential. 

 

Q: “Creativity, as in your statement, is a combination of things: arts, craft and science. When all of them are mixed with entrepreneurship (IT, social, cultural, healthy, …) we create a sort of new paradigm”. Where will it lead to? 

A.: I hope it will lead us to new innovative solutions, multidisciplinary problem solving and living sustainably. 

Since it is a new paradigm it is hard to predict where it will lead us, but I deeply believe it is the transformation happening which will bring balance, dialogue and solutions to many of the current new problems we are facing. Look already at all the innovation happening in regards to plastic, which is suffocating the earth…everything from Adidas shoes to boats is being made of it and so many never before seen innovations to clean the seas, etc.

Q: platforms of the future: what are they made of?

A.: I view platforms of the future as being made of people from various backgrounds, skill sets and visions willing to work together to find solutions to issues that are universal and at the same time doing it using tools such as creative thought, technology and ancient knowledge.  The platform is a manifestation of a shift in consciousness.

 

Q: the importance of growing communities. How will they impact future changes?

A.: having travelled and lived in various different contexts and cultures, I always became fascinated with the communities.  Communities are the backbone to society, if they are good generally the society is stable and prosperous if they are broken and un empowered often the society is too.

Communities are the place where you plant seeds of change.  I believe very much in grassroots initiatives, and creative processes and see how they can be effective to better social and economic conditions and create impact.  I have seen how micro initiatives which are community-focused, create ripple effects and can become macro solutions.

We are in very interesting times, in an age where technology has connected us like never before but also alienated us like never before.  Virtual communities are forming, and actual ones are disappearing.  We must work on this.

 

Q: this seems to be a chance for humanity to shift consciousness. Although we are surrounded by awful scenarios, could we be the real actors for possible solutions?

A.: we must be the actors for possible solutions or at least those that stop being part of the problem. 

 

“ The world is changing, and we have more people on the planet than ever, we have devastated 60% of the wildlife in 50 years, our oceans are choking in plastic and if we do not start cooperating and start to think beyond ourselves, we will perish. “

 

Creativity is such an important factor in all of this, not only visualizing better possibilities but also creating the solutions and implementing them. 

 

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