CREATIVITY’S A BUSY WORD  

We have the Creative Industries, that have become somewhat of a trojan horse for economic growth. The word ‘Creative’ is so commonly used as a verb today it has come to be associated, and perhaps, conflated with that other very ‘busy’ word, innovation. And the advertising industry likes to use ‘creative’ as a noun with a big capital C.

American economist, former Harvard Business School professor and editor of the Harvard Business Review, Theodore Levitt wrote this in 2002:

“The fructifying potentials of creativity vary enormously with the particular industry, with the climate in the organisation […] with the kinds of day-in, day-out problems, pressures, and responsibilities […] Without clearly appreciating these facts, those who declare that a company will somehow grow and prosper merely by having more creative people make a fetish of their own illusions.”  Creativity Is Not Enough, Harvard Business Review, August 2002.

Now, fructifcation is a lovely word. It sounds so sticky, messy and organic.

With clear-eyed determination, at Cultivator, we know we don’t want to live in a world where creativity is reduced to a mere ‘illusory’ tactic for economic growth sans it’s messy and organic stickiness.

With sustainabilty, in all its shapes and facets, as the driving force for the creation of this social enterprise in 2018, Cultivator is dedicated to advocating for and being:

• a public leader that partners and collaborates creatively with likeminded organisations and enterprises for the messy, sticky kind of creativity
• a creative cornerstone online and in the communities we operate our ‘cultivate community’ initiatives in
• an advocacy for advancing wellbeing through creative practice
• a cultivator of individual agency
• a generator of resources and knowledge repositories
• a facilitator of knowledge exchanges
• an evergreen online site that lowers the barrier to entry to useful, relevant and transformative information
• a conduit 

FRUITFUL CREATIVITY
The kind of creativity we are passionate about and want to live in a world blooming full of is the fructifying kind, where creativity means making (something) fruitful, for self and or society.

We regard fruitful creativity as the application of ‘skill and imagination to produce new things or art’ and or laying the seeds for ‘revolutionary’ ideas and or entirely new and unexpected outcomes that may potentially burst forth, later on down the road.

Cultivator creates spaces and opportunities where idea streams and shared pools of knowledge can trickle, ebb, flow and rush. We champion practice that is natural, organic and stems from curiosity and the pursuit of discovery. 

We firmly believe:

• It’s time for big business and government to ‘get’ what artists and creators already know: creativity is complex, paradoxical, layered and inexplicable.
• And, it’s also time for creative practitioners to come together, share more and share better so we all benefit.

STATE OF MIND
Living and operating in a market-driven economy, where creativity practitioners often get lost, passed over and or ignored in the rough and tumble of the capitalist milieu is disillusioning. Cultivator is a counterpoint to a purely capitaist mindset. By surfacing ideas and insights gleaned from successful creators and makers from all eras and places, irrespective of specialisms, we show and share that success and prosperity are possible and take many forms. 

 We advocate for:

• critical thinking,
• curiosity,
• open mindedness,
• making for making’s sake,
  
• and resilience.

TAKING CARE
We are also reclaiming the role of Curator here at Cultivator while we are at it. Curation itself is a craft and practice, built on expertise and sustained knowledge stretching back to ancient Rome where the ‘curatores’ ensured their specific domains (be that navigation of the Tiber, public games, investment of public funds, aqueducts, roads and so on) were tended to.

And with the utmost respect many Pre-Christian first nations cultures around the world had and still have ‘care and sustability’ at the heart of their cultures.

We see ourselves as knowledge and experience curators tending to ideas, perspectives and carving out spaces that generate cultural and social impact. xo 

Words by Cultivator’s Founder, Carolina Tötterman