The Choices We Make: An ode to creation through chaos
This year, we, as a global creative community, were supposed to be celebrating 20 years of OFFF Barcelona. As the COVID-19 pandemic hit it became clear that the annual three-day event, which takes place in Barcelona, Spain, wouldn’t be going forward in its traditional format.
Instead, founder, Héctor Ayuso and communications director Nathalie Koutia, rechanneled their energies to create something timeless and yet uniquely of the time. From COVID-19’s March-May lockdowns came The Choices We Make, a book, a gift, a collection. This 350+ page tome brings together a diversity of talented artists — more than 100 in fact, drawn together from across the world. It captures the common spirit of community and creation with which these souls confronted COVID-19.
fluoro editor, Nancy Bugeja, speaks with Nathalie and Héctor about their vision for the book, and how they brought it to fruition.
fluoro: As I flick slowly through the book, page by page, the diverse collection of essays and images seem truly an accurate representation of COVID-19’s impact on many levels. Tell me about how the book came about?
Nathalie and Héctor: It was pure survival instinct. Once we knew OFFF would be postponed due to the COVID-19 crisis, the idea to keep working on a 20th anniversary book became meaningless to us.
The lockdown began globally, and we felt and witnessed on social media [the ways in which] people were creating beauty out of the boredom and drama. So we thought to ourselves, ‘Hey, this is amazing, how people are supporting each other no matter who they are, [using] art and messages to encourage one another… But all this will be ephemeral, unless we do something with it.’
We decided to, instead, create the book [that documented] all those art [works] and messages, to give away as a gift to everyone who couldn’t join us in Barcelona.
fluoro: The book was produced in record time – between March and May 2020. How did it all come together?
Nathalie and Héctor: Once the idea was planted and clear, we were hungry to find more and more, every day. We both spent weeks with no sleep – no more than 1-2 hours per day (no joke!).
What truly kept us motivated was the feedback we got from every single artist we contacted to contribute to the book. You could feel the joy we were giving them – the idea that one day, they would have this book, in their hands.
fluoro: Nathalie, you’re quoted in the book saying, ‘We work better as a community’. How has the journey of producing this book highlighted this for you?
Nathalie: Personally, this book has left a huge emotional mark on me. First of all it is a journey that Héctor and I began together, all thanks to him. I have always trusted his crazy ideas and the quote is the core of how he and I work together. We have always believed in working as a community. We bring people together, we provide them with a safe space where sharing is part of the working process.
In my opinion, there are some positive things that this global pandemic has brought to us. For instance, for the first time ever, we were all in the same situation. We all had to go through the same lockdown and we were only left with one common thing: communication.
This book has brought together a community who did not give up and kept on creating amazing projects that helped make the world a visually better place.
fluoro: While reading Héctor’s colophon I sensed the creation of this book came from a deep place. What did you learn throughout the process of curation?
Nathalie & Héctor: As cheesy as it sounds, from the worst situations there is always beauty, kindness, honesty and love to give to each other. So, we need to be brave enough to embrace those situations and do something with it. ‘To do’ is the most important lesson. Like Harmony Korine said once, ‘The victory is in the creation.’
OFFF printed just 4000 copies of The Choices We Make, shipping it free-of-charge to ticket-holders, contributors and the extended OFFF family. Browse the book through our image gallery.
Photographer: Manuel Suárez.
