“In an epoch of speed one must think slowly.” So said the great Russian poet and novelist Boris Pasternak. This dictum could very easily sum up The Slow Movement. Those as unfamiliar as me to this world-wide phenomena would have been fascinated and intrigued by the Slow Media Symposium I attended recently, organised by Bath Spa University at their stunning campus in Corsham.

There is Slow Food, Slow Cities, Slow Travel, Slow Schools, Slow Art…the list goes on. One of the leaders of this movement was the key note speaker at the event, Carl Honoré who has written a seminal book on the subject and who spoke eloquently, passionately and extremely convincingly about the methodology, which in his words, is about ‘doing less and thinking more.’ It is about ‘a process of deep reflection’ and this is what has struck me most as it has a huge amount in common with the work that we do here at Creativity Works. We often speak of depth, reflection and connection in our work and in the process involved in socially engaged art and these exist also as the pillars of the Slow Movement.

It is not, however, just slowing down for slowing sake. It is understood that by slowing down at the beginning of a journey, you are faster and more effective at the end. Well, we know this already don’t we having read the Tortoise and the Hare? ‘Slow’ brings about thought, more pleasure, and fundamentally more creativity. The methods are now being adopted by some of the most high profile organisations in the world such as Volkswagen, Puma, IBM and BMW. These companies adopt Slow Technology, where devices are turned off at certain times of the day and staff are banned from sending emails from home before or after work, amongst other concepts.

Now, I am off for Easter and am going to put my money where my mouth is by having a very ‘Slow’ holiday!

Happy Easter to everyone from Creativity Works!

(Director, Creativity Works)