The Creativity Roots Podcast

Creativity Roots - Episode 28 by Ronald Paredes Cultural appropriation its a controversy in its own term, culture doesn’t belong to anyone, it doesn’t have intellectual property so it can not be appropriated. Culture is an ever-changing and developing entity in which we are all born, raised, and assimilated. Cultures or aspects of culture being reinterpreted, adapted, and used as a base for new expressions is only natural. When we prevent others from using some aspects of our culture we are isolating it, and a culture that is isolated is condemned to disappear. We need to encourage cultural enrichment, diversity, and evolution by allowing people to use it as a springboard or their own creativity. - Music featured in this episode: Gambia by Sona Jobarteh http://www.sonajobarteh.com/ Hona by Boubacar Traoré https://www.boubacartraore.com/ Complementary videos and links: Toronto gallery cancels exhibit of white artist's paintings over complaints of cultural appropriation https://tinyurl.com/yczzyafm Picasso's African-influenced Period - 1907 to 1909 https://www.pablopicasso.org/africanperiod.jsp VCU student goes viral for response to cultural appropriation criticism https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZ4bNh0TnMI Can White people have dreadlocks? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHYls9e4mVM Joe Rogan Rants About Cultural Appropriation "It's stupid!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cVhcN8hQd8 What Defines Cultural Appropriation? | i-D https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwEMVEmeubk - Visit www.creativityroots.com for more of this episode Support the podcast at patreon.com/creativityroots Remember to send your creative work, comments, and feedback at creativityroots@yahoo.com Also, follow me on Instagram @creativityroots

Creativity Roots - Episode 27 by Ronald Paredes Cultures are alive entities that evolve, adapt, mature, and change with time. It is important not only to study, understand and preserve our cultures but also to abolish some of the practices and behaviors that do not correspond with our times and with the state of our human evolution as modern and developed societies. We must evaluate our cultures and turn them into practices that enrich and strengthen our identity, cultures that are respectful and considerate to all the members of our societies. The music featured in this episode was: Free Fall by Dave Johnston from the album World Didgeridoo Vibes Volume 1 https://archive.org/details/World_Didgeridoo_Vibes_Vol1/Freefall_DaveJohnstone.mp3 - Visit www.creativityroots.com for more of this episode Support the podcast at patreon.com/creativityroots Remember to send your creative work, comments, and feedback at creativityroots@yahoo.com Also, follow me on Instagram @creativityroots

Creativity Roots - Episode 26 by Ronald Paredes Brendan Davis is a filmmaker, producer, consultant, and prolific podcaster with three active podcasts, Big Fish in The Middle Kingdom, How China Works, and If I Knew You Better, additionally he is involved in current film projects which includes three movies and in the creation process of a TV series of his own inspiration. His name is included in the credits of several movies, short films, documentaries in roles that range from sound operator, acting, editor, writer, producer, and director. His most recent involvement in film projects is the newly released documentary film “Crazy Hot” in which he is a writer, and as producer in “My Favorite Season”, film that at the moment of releasing this episode its been nominated for best picture at the International Fashion Film Award 2020. www.crazyinagoodway.com Brendan Davis at IMDb Crazy Hot (Documentary) Instagram: @brendankdavis - The music featured in this episode was: Damien Escobar in a HipHop Violin Freestyle performance www.damienescobar.com IG: @dameesco SoundCloud: Dameesco Youtube: Damien Escobar - Visit www.creativityroots.com for more of this episode Support the podcast at patreon.com/creativityroots Remember to send your creative work, comments, and feedback at creativityroots@yahoo.com Also, follow me on Instagram @creativityroots

Creativity Roots - Episode 25 by Ronald Paredes It is terrible to spend your entire life frustrated stuck in a job that doesn’t motivate you only to wake up at 50 years old to find out that you have wasted your entire life and you don’t even know who you are and what you really want to do with your life. This episode it’s a Labor Day tribute to all those who in these terrible circumstances are putting all their heart, passion, love, and expertise to keep us safe and helping us battle this terrible pandemic. The closing song is called Ovation performed by Masterkhisis https://soundcloud.com/masterkhisis Instagram: @masterkhisis80 Visit www.creativityroots.com for more of this episode Support the podcast at www.patreon.com/creativityroots Remember to send your creative work, comments, and feedback at creativityroots@yahoo.com Also, follow me on Instagram @creativityroots

Creativity Roots - Episode 24 by Brendan Davis / Ronald Paredes This is a co-release of an interview to me by Brendan Davis with the title “RONALD PAREDES | Floating in Uncertain Waters” originally posted on his podcasts “If I knew You Better” and “Big Fish In The Middle Kingdom” where we talk about my career as an artist/designer and my current living situation in China. Links to both original shows below: http://ifiknewyoubetter.libsyn.com/ https://bigfishmiddlekingdom.libsyn.com/ https://www.crazyinagoodway.com/ Visit www.creativityroots.com for more of this episode Support the podcast at www.patreon.com/creativityroots Remember to send your creative work, comments, and feedback at creativityroots@yahoo.com Also, follow me on Instagram @creativityroots

Creativity Roots - Episode 23 by Ronald Paredes Note: For those listeners located in mainland China the podcast is accessible by using a VPN connection. The first quarter of 2020 has been completely overtaken by the COVID-19 pandemic that took us all by surprise, disrupted our lives and created an economic crisis like we probably have never seen before. This situation has forced us to rethink our relationship with ourselves and the way we live and we are all expecting changes however we tend to think of change as something that will happen somewhere, somehow without thinking about our role in such change, same like with creativity we think of it as something external and out of our control. How Change is related to creativity and how much of a role we have in it? Music break by Empress Ellehcim performing Tujja, find her on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/empesselleehcim Visit www.creativityroots.com for more of this episode Support the podcast at www.patreon.com/creativityroots Remember to send your creative work, comments, and feedback at creativityroots@yahoo.com Also, follow me on Instagram @creativityroots

Creativity Roots - Episode 22 by Ronald Paredes Stephanie Fuccio is a fellow podcaster, but not an ordinary one. She has made of her passion for podcasting, communication, connectivity, culture, and education an amazing mix that is already touching and influencing those who follow and listen to her with engaging, interesting and I might add, a continuous stream of online content. Stephanie is currently producing 4 regular and very active podcasts, Virtual Expats, Changing Scripts, Geopats, and the most recent called Creatively Complicated which she co-hosts with Summer Rylander. Although she insists on calling herself not-creative she is the personification of what I think is the most important aspect every creator should have, the crystallization of the ideas, which are the same as non-existent until we actually put them out to the world and that is what Steph does so well. That doesn’t mean she is just indiscriminately putting stuff out, she is actually producing, curating and editing everything she is sharing which is incredible to me, given the immense amount of work this represents. www.stephfuccio.com https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio Instagram: @stephfuccio The Creator for this episode was: Masterkhisis Performing: Awakening SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/masterkhisis Instagram: @masterkhisis80 Visit www.creativityroots.com for more of this episode Support the podcast at www.patreon.com/creativityroots Remember to send your creative work, comments, and feedback at creativityroots@yahoo.com Also, follow me on Instagram @creativityroots

Alëna Olasyuk is an Ukrainian artist who lives and works in Beijing. She graduated from the Arts College in Khmelnytsky city and later complementing her studies at the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology where she obtained degrees in arts and media. Since then she has been working with a variety of mediums, such as oil paintings, ink on paper, woodcut print and piercing art. I met Alëna and started following her work through several art and creativity related on line groups. Although it would be a while before we got to meet in person I was already fond of her cool personality.  In several occasions Alena shared on these groups her deep rooted interest in the phenomenon of creativity and that sparked even further my curiosity even further. This is a conversation I was really looking forward to.  Find more about Alëna Olasyuk and her work here: www.olasyuk.com  linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alena-olasyuk-067840a9/  facebook: www.facebook.com/alena.olasyuk  instagram: www.instagram.com/olasyuk_a  instagram: www.instagram.com/chi_media  tumblr: https://olasyukalena.tumblr.com/  cncreate.org/dark-side-art The Creator for this episode was: Mariana Savchenko Performing: Music Is My Only Guide  soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/marianasavchenko  facebook.com/mariana.savchenko Visit www.creativityroots.com for more of this episode  Support the podcast at www.patreon.com/creativityroots  Remember to send your creative work, comments, and feedback at creativityroots@yahoo.com  Also, follow me on Instagram @creativityroots 

Creativity Roots - Episode 20 by Ronald Paredes  I first met Yolanda through a social media art group when she was making a call for volunteers to participate in one of her photography projects. The first time I met her in person the first impression is this very tall and slender, beautiful and unpretentious woman, then I got to talk to her and I was immediately hit by her insightful and caring personality, it only takes a few seconds to know what Yolanda is all about because of her blunt honesty, an aspect of her personality that she admits sometimes gets her in trouble.  I was chasing this interview for a while because I knew Yolanda would give me a very interesting view of her creative process and she delivered.  Find more of Yolanda and her work at:  http://www.yovohagrafie.de/ https://www.behance.net/mail342742d9 https://www.linkedin.com/in/yolanda-vom-hagen-6b63702a/ https://www.lensculture.com/yolanda-vom-hagen http://www.shanghai-flaneur.com/flaneur-faculty/yolanda-vom-hagen/ The music at the end of the episode is from an Indie Rock band called Stray Monroe, find more of them at:  Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/straymonroe  Twitter – https://twitter.com/straymonroe  Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/straymonroe/  YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCilhJYS_ATm0k5WHyPYnivw  Visit www.creativityroots.com for more of this episode  Support the podcast at www.patreon.com/creativityroots  Remember to send your creative work, comments, and feedback at creativityroots@yahoo.com  Also, follow me on Instagram @creativityroots 

Creativity Roots - Episode 19 by Ronald Paredes  Note: For those listeners located in mainland China the podcast is accessible by using a VPN connection.  At the moment of recording this podcast, we are celebrating Valentine’s Day and what a perfect day to think about the effects that love have on us, especially when it comes to creativity, what is it about love that provokes in us that urge to express our love creatively. There a scientific reason to that and it has to do with a change produced in the way we think and most importantly in a disruption of our logical thinking process. Love drives us crazy and that is a wonderful thing.  In this episode I cite a couple of articles about the studies on our thinking process when we are in love and how people involved in healthy relationships live longer, you can find those in the following links:  https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/does-falling-in-love-make/ https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/strengthen-relationships-for-longer-healthier-life The creator for Valentine’s Day is my dear friend Gemini George performing his song Evening Melody, find him on his website: http://www.geminigeorge.com/  Visit www.creativityroots.com for more of this episode  Support the podcast at www.patreon.com/creativityroots  Remember to send your creative work, comments, and feedback at creativityroots@yahoo.com  Also, follow me on Instagram @creativityroots 

Creativity Roots - Episode 18 by Ronald Paredes  After a year that closed with struggles that prevented me from producing the podcast regularly, The Creativity Roots Podcast is back with a season 2. It was difficult, but the year ended up well, with a lot of work and interesting projects that kept me extremely busy. A lot of learning, and a lot of new information that I want to share with you.  For the creator, we have once again the wonderful Empress Ellehcim with a song called "I a woman", listen to her most recent work at:  https://soundcloud.com/masiwemai or  www.facebook.com/EmpressEllehciM Visit www.creativityroots.com for more of this episode  Support the podcast at www.patreon.com/creativityroots  Remember to send your creative work, comments, and feedback at creativityroots@yahoo.com  Also, follow me on Instagram @creativityroots 

Creativity Roots - Episode 16 by Ronald Paredes After all the tragic events that keep happening under our noses I can’t help to think that we have failed to ourselves, we have fallen victims of our own ignorance, our lack of education, our incapacity to sustain all the social battles that we fought and won in the past, because of our bad choices. Societal deceases like racism, inequality, homophobia, xenophobia, antisemitism, intolerance, and the worst of all white supremacism, all signs of a great ignorance, fear and manipulation. When we educate ourselves and most importantly our children, we prevent falling for manipulations from populist and criminals, people with questionable characters that we have put in positions of power and influence. We can’t keep failing to ourselves, we need to develop a generation of individuals with the capacity to make better choices, to analyze, discern, and understand the consequences of making decisions out of manipulation, disinformation and ignorance. The creator this week is a guy called Don Draper and his upbeat and delightful song “Got U" Find more of him at: https://soundcloud.com/don-draper-music https://www.instagram.com/dondrapermusic/ https://twitter.com/dondrapermusic Visit www.creativityroots.com for more of this episode Support the podcast at www.patreon.com/creativityroots Remember to send your creative work, comments, and feedback at creativityroots@yahoo.com Also, follow me on Instagram @creativityroots

Creativity Roots - Episode 15 by Ronald Paredes In this episode I reflect on my own experience teaching to a group of highly unmotivated and disengaged group of high school students who have turned this way by being enclosed for several years in sterile classrooms, under an educational regime the stifle their creativity and forced them to fit into standardized mentality, hence repressing who they really are. We know this is wrong and yet we keep trusting the education of our kids to these institutions that very often care more about fulfilling a program than forming strong and critical individuals The creator this week is a woman I came across in the internet called Jessica Hart with her song "Soul Phazed” a very enjoyable and delightful tune Find more of here at: https://soundcloud.com/boxedtreats https://www.facebook.com/jessicahartmusic https://www.instagram.com/jess_sweet_hart/ Visit www.creativityroots.com for more of this episode Remember to send your creative work, comments, and feedback at creativityroots@yahoo.com Also, follow me on Instagram @creativityroots

Creativity Roots - Episode 14 by Ronald Paredes Like money, fame should never be the purpose for doing anything in life, since the arrival of the internet the idea of fame has completely changed, everybody with a camera and an outrageous behavior now have the chance to become famous by simply pulling pranks on people or making some stupid challenges that many times have ended up badly. We have to be more selective about what we consume, what kind of role model we have in our life, who are we following. Fame is an illusion, is temporal, it vanishes with time and not necessarily leaving something relevant behind. Instead of fame, we should work for legacy, by producing work that is relevant, important, of benefit to somebody, something constructive. The creators this week are the Venezuelan duo from Masseratti 2Lts and their theme “Levantate”. Find them at www.2litros.com Visit www.creativityroots.com for more of this episode and Masseratti 2Lts Remember to send your creative work, comments, and feedback at creativityroots@yahoo.com

Creativity Roots - Episode 13 by Ronald Paredes Have you ever being so afraid of being judged or criticized? Criticism is one of the biggest inhibitors that creators and pretty much everybody face, every single person in this planet experienced it constantly, it can completely restrain you from expressing your ideas regardless of how well you do, in fact, the better you do more exposed you are to judgment and criticism. For a confident person, with a healthy level of self-esteem and fully aware of their motivation and purpose, criticism represents a source of information an opportunity for growth. Criticism is a signal that there is some conventionalism that is being broken, it means that the work it’s having an impact, negative or positive but there is something moving and changing and changes always make some people uncomfortable. * Don’t receive criticism with arrogance * Maintain your work aligned to the highest possible purpose * Be open-minded and objective enough to listen and adjust but never compromise on your idea The creator this week is the recurrent and always powerful Krystal Gypsy Orellano with her poetry piece called “Normal” Visit www.creativityroots.com for more of this episode and Krystal Remember to send your creative work, comments, and feedback at creativityroots@yahoo.com

Creativity Roots - Episode 12 by Ronald Paredes Today is September 30th, and we are celebrating #InternationalPodcastDay. It is a good day to think about the reasons why we started podcasting, obviously we all have something we think is worth saying, maybe we feel that we represent a group of people with some specific need or maybe some of us just want to entertain. Whatever it is the motivation for us to get in front of the microphone we need to be always aware that we are occupying a space, that we are stirring a pot somewhere, that we are influencing people and for that reason is important to be aware that all this comes with a responsibility. Congratulations to all my fellow podcasters! Happy #InternationalPodcastDay! Visit my website: www.CreativityRoots.com

Creativity Roots - Episode 11 by Ronald Paredes Chef Nino at the Pacific Restaurant at the Jinling Hotel in Nanjing is without a question one of the most interesting people I have met in all my years in China, his approach to producing menus, creating dishes and serving is very unique, he enjoys creating an entire experience where all the senses are involved, even those senses we didn’t know we had, Nino believes that we possess 7 senses adding emotion and thinking to the traditional 5 ones, and they should all participate in the enjoyment of his food. Visit www.creativityroots.com for more information and images. Remember to send your creative work, comments, and feedback at creativityroots@yahoo.com

Creativity Roots - Episode 10 by Ronald Paredes Note: For those listeners located in mainland China the podcast is accessible by using a VPN connection. Given the importance of developing a sense of identity I feel is necessary to summarize the topic and emphasize some important information about it. I mention an experiment about isolation called "In Solitary: The Anti Social Experiment” that you can find int he following the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28D-lTFa_ss The Vanuatu Women's Water Music documentary directed by Tim Cole can be found at https://www.wantokmusik.org/vanuatuwomenswatermusic The World Didgeridoo Vibes is available at https://archive.org/details/World_Didgeridoo_Vibes_Vol1/Droihoeksken_Djridoo.mp3 The creator this week was Gemini George performing his song Full Foolish Moon, find him on his website: http://www.geminigeorge.com/ and more information at: www.creativityroots.com

Creativity Roots - Episode 9 by Ronald Paredes Conversation with Benj Kinenga Mushila, Congolese visual artist and painter Check the Creativity Roots website www.creativityroots.com for more information about Benj Kinenga Mushila and his work. Originally from the Republic of Congo, Benj Kinenga Mushila is a visual artist who regardless of his young age has developed, through consistent and disciplined work, a very mature and distinctive technique of painting. Using mainly oil painting and knives he basically places chunks of color one on top of the other to create impressionist like compositions rich with a very expressive texture, to me, it looks like painting with pieces of melted candy. The themes of his painting are usually attached to his African cultural roots, daily life scenes, the market, the walking, the working, and even the struggles. Find more from Benji at www.benjkinenga.com Contact The Creativity Roots Podcast by mail: creativityroots@yahoo.com IG @creativityroots

Creativity Roots - Episode 8 by Ronald Paredes Identity is probably the most important aspect of an individual, it is what helps us identify ourselves with the different social groups we interact with, giving us a sense of belonging. Knowing who are, where we come from, having a strong sense of identity can help us to be more social adaptable. Lack of an identity can create great conflict that can be of great detriment to our mental and physical health and maybe even make us incur in criminal behavior. Our identity can be a rich source of material for our creative activities. The featured creator for this week is once again Krystal (Gypsy) Orellano with a wonderful piece called “Who I am” Enjoy!