This poster, found through tumblr, has sparked my fire:
Free thought: the pictures of the woman–the thought “decolonizing our creativity”–the way the pictures of the woman seem to rotate and fluctuate and build an idea with each other–how this idea wouldn’t be present if it weren’t for each of the pictures of the women interacting with each other…
colonizing=the destruction and control of a space
our creativity=that space
decolonizing our creativity=building creativity that interacts with each other, with our communities—rebuilding a flexible, fluctuating, space that honors and reflects upon each of our multiple faces.
What does ‘our creativity’ decolonized look like to you? How are you doing it?
- Share
December 10th, 2008 at 2:14 pm #
I have some stuff I could post but I need to take some pictures! I make collage postcard art in my decolonized art space. I also write tons of poetry about Native, women and Earth based issues! You can read some of it over at my blog. Unless you want me to go through 2,000 poems and post one here?!
Our creativity decolonized is free of judgment and critique! It is allowed to just be. It is allowed to grow, bloom and shine! It is allowed to bring the darkness to the light.
December 10th, 2008 at 2:15 pm #
I mean the light to the darkness, haha!
December 10th, 2008 at 3:08 pm #
I would love love love to see what*ever* you want to post! Whatever inspires you, whatever you consider to be “your space”–whatever you’ve created that allows you the space to be, think, feel everything you need to be, think, feel in order to be fully human! Easy enough, right? :p
December 10th, 2008 at 5:27 pm #
i’ve been asking myself a lot of why’s lately. Why i’ve been writing on certain topics…
I’ve been really hard pressed to write since leaving school, and i’m struggling with why that is.
December 10th, 2008 at 8:29 pm #
Lemme see bfp… here are two poems I can post here that are not too long…
Title: Good English
March 13, 2008
I’ve got this articulation nation,
Genocidal discomfort to speak of,
In good English,
I can’t articulate hate,
Or debate what is your fate,
In attempting to conquer every noun,
Adjective,
I don’t care,
We speak of peace in our Native tongues,
Which may not be good English in your eyes.
—–
“no title”
March 15, 2008
Aboriginal,
Indigenous,
Native,
Supremacist,
Mix it,
Shake it,
Give me the best topping,
For the reason why,
We annihilate,
The true doctors,
Priestesses,
Medicine men,
Medicine women,
Midwives,
Saints,
Sages,
Of the Earth,
To find out that we annihilate ourselves.
—–
That is it for now! I should post more of these poems to my blog! Maybe I will come back and post some postcard collage art. Right now I am going to delve in a delicious bath!
December 11th, 2008 at 11:13 am #
I’ve been really hard pressed to write since leaving school, and i’m struggling with why that is.
You know, i struggled after I left school too–and after a looong time of working through it–I think it was that I finally, for the first time in 8 years, had the space to write whatever the hell I wanted whenever I wanted for whatever reason I wanted to–And I had NO idea what to do with that space, even though I had been dreaming of it for at LEAST four years!!!! It was SO hard for me to undo the structure and strictness of university writing and relax into a more free flowing, ok with mistakes, thinking through things as I work rather than having a solid idea finished and perfect type of writing.
i wonder if there’s something like that for you too? a reclaiming of your brain space happening?
December 11th, 2008 at 11:16 am #
cecilia–very very very powerful, thank you SO much for sharing. I’d *love* to see your collage art. and I love that a delicious bath seems to act as sort of a ’space’ for you–a renewal space? a literal ‘cleansing’ space?
December 11th, 2008 at 11:21 am #
Girl, that’s Favianna Rodriguez! She’s the bomb. Do you remember we deconstructed one of her pieces a while back on my blog of the drawing of three women…
Let me find it:
http://favianna.com/ she has a blog here, es una chingona. http://favianna.typepad.com/faviannacom_art_activism/
December 11th, 2008 at 11:25 am #
Actually I just found the link to her piece of art in my now deleted blog…god this is making me nostalgic it’s pathetic. It’s the cache hopefully you can see it and it’s actually called “indestructible”
http://209.85.173.132/search?q=cache:d7N2w6nQdo8J:fabulosamujer.blogspot.com/2006/01/more-of-her-art.html%3FshowComment%3D1139479620000+Fabulosa+Mujer,+artist&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us
For me, mujer is writing and reading poetry/short stories/life experiences/the munchk in my life.
But to get there in the midst of this chaotic life is hectic. I go there only a couple times a month..that decolonized creative space. I am working to find a better way….
much love,
December 11th, 2008 at 4:08 pm #
Thanks bfp, I am glad you like my poems!
Yes a bath is a renewal space for me. Self love and self nurturing are so important at this time in my life!
I hope you can create a poetic and creative space soon! Sometimes you need to do things like move the furniture around or move energy around. Whatever you do you can create a space where you will write,draw, doodle, dance, sing or paint freely. I had a similar issues after grad school. I called it “post traumatic graduate school disorder – ptgsd.” I rushed to finished my MA by the time I was 24 years old but was sick, tired and worn out at the end of it. So I could not write anything academic for the longest time. That is why I have created a space to do everything poetic, free and creative. It is true it has been a way for me to unwind from academic rigor and exhaustion. I am building up my reserves for future super structured activities, haha!
Ohh – now my friend is taking me out to some yummy dinner… I will try to post one picture I have of my collage art when I get back! …
December 11th, 2008 at 7:15 pm #
Ok, I have one of my works of collage art right here… check it out…
December 12th, 2008 at 12:21 am #
@ Sly Civilian, bfp, Cecelia
I’ve had a lot of trouble writing since I left school, too–although I was looking forward to having all this time to write when I was *in* school. I’m not sure if I need more structure like I had in school, or if I need to undo all the crap that structure left me with. It’s probably both: as you said, bfp, it’s definitely a case of having all this free space and not knowing what to do with it for me. Perhaps structuring a regular time to write (like, for a set time every day) but not worrying too much about what I’m writing or how perfect it is would help.
Cecelia, your poems are powerful!
December 12th, 2008 at 11:33 am #
Thanks Tera!
BFP – It looks like the picture did not upload! I am trying to upload it from photobucket.