In 2019 I started Creative Traveller Enterprises in Australia as I wanted to create a community for those creative, curious and adventurous seekers. For me ‘creative travelling’ is a physical and metaphorical concept and state of mind. After travelling and working in different parts of the world and with a professional background in the arts I saw myself as the nomadic art traveller with my visual journal and camera in my hand. So I created my entity as the ‘creative traveller’ in the physical sense of exploring different cultures, going to exotic places, meeting local people and immersing myself in cultural experiences. I thought this was the artist’s lifestyle. This meant enjoying the curiosity of exploring and being in awe of ancient cultures with their different colour palettes , cultural practices and cultural aesthetics and see art and culture embedded in every day life so unlike Western countries. Travelling, living and working overseas and my experiences in Tibet, China, Peru and Bangladesh gave me the opportunity to do just this.
It was such a personal insight and breakthrough to realise that I could become who I ever I wanted to be in a foreign country without the cultural baggage you have when you stay at home- being who you think you should be or what others expect of you. You feel liberated to create and design your own life and possibly a new life you hadn’t envisioned before and see different aspects of our many selves. Somehow you are in a different mindset and context. You are transported as an adventurer. Ready to face the unknown. You are ready to try new things and experiences and take up opportunities that you didn’t know where they were going to lead to and move out of your comfort zone.
But over the decades after leaving art school I realise its more than this. It is an ongoing life’s journey of inner exploration of your own `creative travelling’. Exploring one’s self through artistic and creative expression and different aspects to your responses to the world can manifest in more than just artmaking. It was an inner state of creative travelling much closer to home. Its about finding and revealing the layers and getting to the core of your ‘authentic self’ and letting it shine through to finding your own voice. This is also part of the creative traveller journey. But its also about grappling with a broader concept of ‘creativity’ so that it flows through every aspect in your life. From the ordinary and extraordinary ways in everyday life.Thats what the mantra is for Creative Traveller Enterprises is to live life through art, culture, design and creativity. Its how we can refocus and see the world in a different way and make our connection to it to feel that excitement immersing ourselves with all our senses of new exploration and awe every day through our own ‘creative travelling’.
Dr.Cheryle Yin Lo has a Doctorate in Cultural Research and is the Director and Founder of Creative Traveller Enterprises . She is a Cultural Strategist, Cultural Advocate and Creative Mentor who has designed workshops in Creative Mindmapping and Creative Vision Boards. Cheryle is also a photographer and an exhibiting artist as a printmaker.
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