The Connection Between Culture And Creativity

In this blog we will be covering; why we created this platform, exploring the driving force behind art, the essential connection between all artistic disciplines and the importance of understanding culture and how that inspires us. Our culture comes from every aspect of life – from the streets of our childhood to our current creative peers, the community is paramount in influencing what we create.

The driving force behind art

Our art is an accumulation of our life experiences that have transpired from our upbringing and influences. Our imagination is the machine that drives all creativity and that has a direct link to our perspective of the world. These inspirations come from society, music, art, cultural and world events, hardships and other pitstops on your journey.

Speaking from experience as a guy who grew up in a northern industrial city listening to hip hop and taking ballet class, I found the need to indulge myself in cultures that were not my own. Arctic Monkeys were king, my childhood friends were wanna-be hooligans and my dad played in a rock & roll band, yet I found myself being inspired by American music and Hip Hop culture, even writing my dissertation on the evolution of Hip Hop over the last 40 or so years. My music inspirations and growing up in a highly creative household with unconditionally supportive parents pushed me into the artist disciplines I’ve been pursuing for the last 16 years and even influences my style of photography; strong, bold and empowered images often presenting juxtaposition that can be traced back to my ‘out of place’ up bringing and more than that, makes me who I am today. 

Why we created this platform

It’s Our Culture is an online platform connecting creatives globally from every corner of the arts. We have curated this community for you to join in, connect and share knowledge with artists from different backgrounds and skill sets. We do not focus on one niche as we believe that the knowledge given can be applied across all art forms. We saw a need for a strong platform that is not only a space to showcase artists within our own community but also to inform, inspire and communicate, as collaboration is the best vehicle for progression.

Understanding culture

The importance of understanding culture as artists, whatever discipline, allows us to create the most organic and true forms of our art. Culture is raw, it is the seed of all things creative. Understanding this makes us able to create and grow into our own space. Community, culture and surroundings cannot be fabricated, they are there to build a strong foundation in society, to connect to each other and to survive, these foundations are mirrored in our art. When we understand this, our craft becomes a raw product of our culture, a place in history. To create authenticity you need to have a deep understanding and respect of the culture behind it.

In conclusion, this new space will grow into an online community, spanning a large selection of creative fields, all with one thing in common; a culture. Inspiration is all around us and is a product of our society, circle of friends and upbringing. Cultures define eras of history, and will always find ways to reinvent themselves. Being able to replicate these cultures through art authentically comes with a deep understanding of the foundations.

Written by

The IOC Team