A place to lay your hat…

We live in a world of highly mobile global creative citizens*. People who choose to create, think, reflect and travel from short and medium term places they call their creative base. A Global Creative Citizen is a person whose creative practice creates value, who works as part of a world community.

Where is home?

For creative citizens, the answer to this question often jumps between where they were born and where they are currently based, somewhere for the bookshelf, a place for the cat and the garden.

A creative base can be chosen for multiple reasons: it might be connectedness, proximity of like minded people and supporting infrastructure (things like affordable housing, studios, venues and co-working environments). Some specifically choose places for inspiration and recovery from being on the road. This might just as much be a city centre flat, a remote Scottish island cottage or a narrowboat.

A creative home from home

But when we travel from our base and big things are at stake in our work or practice we need a place to call home, somewhere familiar and welcoming, somewhere that others in our community gather. We’re our own best support network.

Put simply, somewhere where likeminded people can share the best bars and cafes to connect with others. When there’s a deadline, or a problem, when you need to use a printer or just need an address to receive some CD stock. A safe place to leave our gear when an important meeting calls.

What if we could be guaranteed a roof over our heads and all the tools we have at home to get the job done? What if we need to quickly find the person who knows just the right person? What if we simply need the best venue to meet and entertain.

Through a network of Creative Embassies based in the world’s most creative cities and a series of pop-up embassies during the worlds great international festivals we will be there to provide that moment of creative help.

“Borders I have never seen one. But I have heard they exist in the minds of some people”. Thor Heyerdahl

The Creative Embassy

The Creative Embassy will support, promote and build a shared understanding of what it means to be a global creative citizen, someone living and working between and across geographic, institutional and democratic structures but within a defined closely knit creative world community.

We will facilitate and support stronger understanding and relationships between the global creative citizen and their places of nationality, chosen creative base and the nations they visit to work. We will seek to support social, cultural and economic growth for host nations and individual creative practitioners.

Our work will be delivered through a network of Embassies with local Creative Ambassadors and a range of specialist creative citizen advice, online support and consulate services. Popup Creative Embassies will provide additional support at major international festivals throughout the world. Our popup Embassies will also act as pilots to inform the development and shape of our network.

Our mission is to connect ideas, nations and creative people… in person.

A home from home for creative people.

Our financial model will mix commercial, government and academic partnership with an affordable individual membership scheme. We want, as a community to support our fellow creative citizens and enjoy that support as part of the same community when and wherever we need help.

For information and to get involved follow us on Twitter @CreativeEmby and/or email info@creativehelp.org

Download our project brief HERE.

*The Global Citizens’ Initiative define a global citizen as: “someone who identifies with being part of an emerging world community and whose actions contribute to building this community’s values and practices.”