I tried to outrun my creative calling but it ended up catching up with me. After a decade working in academia, the third sector and in government, I finally took the plunge to scale up my work and create my own organization. This was back in 2019. It was solely and strictly focused on conducting research to inform policy choices. Despite year-on-year success, it quickly felt very restrictive and the work started to feel meaningless. I had to rebel against what I had built. And so I did. Last year I launched a new venture with two partners, focused solely on social impact. Finding knots and undoing them in the search for lasting, meaningful change for the better. I am now convinced that we must work towards utopias, uncompromisingly. In doing so, I believe community is of essence, a sine qua non condition to realising the utopia. I believe connecting with individual who understand the need for multi-disciplinary practice, who want to build new worlds and aren’t afraid to be laughed at and who work towards something greater than themselves is what I need in both my intellectual work and my artistic work.

Community is, at the moment, both my problem and my solution. To see and be seen, to witness other people in their work, to validate and give feedback, to create together: those are my motivating factors. I know for a fact that Dubai and the UAE are home to genuinely incredible individuals. Yet, too often, finding oneself in the same room as them may not be the simplest thing - due to how our lives are designed. I believe that is why 1833 was created in the first place: make sure there is one room and everyone knows where it is. It certainly makes it easier to show up.

In the last two years, I have made the decision to no longer barricade my creative interests to my free time. As someone working at the time in public policy, prior to going back to research & opening my own research/advisory organization, I felt the urgency in taking my creative practices more seriously. To pursue them with intent and dedication and choose a role (in life) I can sustain. I therefore paint, write prose and poetry, experiment with manual crafts, push my photography, create mini films, and build things with my hands.