An Odyssey with Anum Farooq (Odyssey Global Media)

Anum Farooq with Natalia Koren Kropf

PERSPECTIVE FROM THE FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF WOMEN ARTISTS
 
Natalia Koren Kropf is a contemporary artist, based in New York, working in drawing, painting, printmaking, and sculpture. Natalia has received a solid classical education, which allows her to explore many ways of expression, inspired by nature, music, and science. Movement and light remain recurring themes in her artworks, which she refers to as visual poems.
 
Notable exhibitions include New York University East Galleries, Parsons School of Design Gallery, NYC; International Print Center of New York, Center for Contemporary Printmaking, Norwalk, CT;  Silvermine Artists Guild, New Canaan, CT; Monotype of New England, Cambridge, MA; Lynn Art Museum, MA; Arts Club of Washington DC; Strathmore Mansion, Bethesda, MD;  New York Public Library, Art Students League of New York, Awagami Handmade Paper, Tokushima, Japan; Kreuzeskirche Gallery, Essen, Germany; RAVE MIAMI ART Fair, Miami, FL, ART EXPO New York.
 
Natalia Koren Kropf’s work is in national and international private collections.
She is a member of the National Association of Women Artists, where she served as a President during the tumultuous years of the Pandemic, 2019-2021. Presently on the Board of Directors.
She also is an Elected Member of the Allied Artists of America, the Art Students League of New York, Monotype Guild of New England.

Aaesha Ahmed with Anum Farooq

AAESHA AHMED: FEMALE PERSPECTIVES ON POETRY AND HERITAGE 
 
Female perspectives on poetry inspiration and heritage, with a discussion on the importance of poetry. Aaesha Ahmed is an esteemed Emirati writer and poet from Ras Al Khaimah, with a degree specialising in Tourism Studies. She has a multitude of renowned participation in cultural and literary fields, and her poems are inspired by the beauty of nature, life and romance. Aaesha's poem was awarded the Poetry Award [Arabic Category] in the RAK Fine Arts Festival. Her poetry is celebrated by holding a place of honour in the RAK Heritage Village.

Dr Saliha Afridi with Anum Farooq

FEMALE PERSPECTIVES ON WORKING MOTHERS AND WOMEN, IDENTITY, CHALLENGES AND WELLNESS
Empathetic, research based and insightful perspectives from the Managing Director and Founder of The Light House Arabia on working mothers and women, female identity,  transitions older women experience in their forties and beyond, body positivity, challenges, wellness and inclusive conversations about women!
 Dr Saliha Afridi is the Managing Director and Founder of The Light House Arabia, which she founded with the intention of making a positive impact on the mental health of individuals and families living in this region.
Dr Saliha is a clinical psychologist with generalist training and experience in a wide range of mental health issues. Over the last decade she has had extensive experience consulting with executives and the corporate workplace on a range of issues related to wellness, stress management, coaching and transformational counselling. She holds a doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Arizona School of Professional Psychology.  

Vivian Rebrin with Anum Farooq

VIVIAN REBRIN: FEMALE PERSPECTIVES ON ARTIFICAL INTELLIGENCE, COGNITIVE BEHAVIOURAL THERAPY AND WELLNESS APP NUNA
 
An innovative and ground-breaking application utilising artificial intelligence, CBT and positive psychology; Nuna.ai is a complete mental health toolkit built upon a clinically validated foundation of research by some of the world’s leading institutions within mental health. Nuna utilises psychotherapeutic evidence-based methods approved by FDA and NHS. Those methods can amongst others alleviate depression, anxiety and stress.  With easy applicable tools rooted in CBT and other proven methods Nuna assists people to structure their thoughts and find new ways of coping in their everyday life. Nuna has been featured on Fox, USA Today, Digital Journal, NCN and the Daily Herald amongst other prominent platforms.
Vivian Rebrin was born in Brazil and has grown up moving around the world, she’s lived in Chile, Switzerland, US, Puerto Rico and now is in Portugal. She considers herself a third culture kid which means she grew up outside of her home country and has mixed cultures in her life. She currently works as a marketing manager for Nuna and handles all of the ambassador programs as well as customer service and content creation.

Sara Schroerlucke with Anum Farooq

SARA SCHROERLUCKE WITH ANUM FAROOQ: PERSPECTIVES ON THE ENVIRONMENT, ART, CONSERVATION AND HUMAN SOCIETY
 
Sara Schroerlucke is an interdisciplinary artist, and is interested in creating work that is accessible for all- and has written and produced multi-media shows that are dedicated to telling tales of the earth, and of healing. Sara is a holistic creativity coach, and works with those who desire to reconnect to their authentic creativity. She currently serves as founder and executive director of UneARTh.
Classically trained, a contemporary rebel at heart, Sara is electrified by all things movement. She began her dance training at the age of four, under the tutelage of Toni Carrion and Denise Donovan. She continued her training at the University of California, Irvine, where she holds degrees in Dance Performance and Anthropology. Sara currently lives in Massachusetts, and has danced with companies including Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre, Hanna Brictson & Dancers, and Cocodaco Dance Project. She has performed works by choreographers including, but not limited to, Lar Lubovitch, Sherry Zunker, Christian Denice, Dante Puleio, Jose Limon, and David Maurice. She has presented works at festivals including 92Y’s Mobile Dance Film festival, and the Contemporary choreographic Dance Festival.

Marysia Zipser with Anum Farooq

MARYSIA ZIPSER: ART, CULTURE AND TOURISM - PRESERVING HERITAGE FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS
 
Marysia Zipser is the founder of Art, Culture, Tourism (ACT) England, which she founded in 2013. ACT was established as a strategic vision to embrace the prominent creativity and flourishing of community interest and cultural groups in and around Beeston and Nottinghamshire with a global outreach.
 
Marysia is also an ACT Ambassador representing Nottinghamshire (and then over the next few years the rest of the East Midlands region - Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire). Her first visits were two regions in Italy - Genoa/Liguria and Ravenna/Romagna, as there are many art, culture, literature, history connections between Italy and Nottinghamshire, with three literary icons - Lord Byron, DH Lawrence & Alan Sillitoe. She will be doing the Byron & DH Lawrence trails there, as well as highlighting Robin Hood as the global brand.

Bobby Forsythe with Anum Farooq

Bobby Forsythe with Anum Farooq: The Future of Art
Female perspectives from the art world, and the dreams of an artist. A passionate perspective and an in-depth discussion on the future of the art world.
 
Bobby Forsythe is an English artist, curator, art technician, and art historian, residing in Ipswich, Suffolk. Throughout her career, she has explored and revisited the ideology of how the beholder experiences artworks. Her creations focus on the beholder’s interaction with installation art and transforming space by utilising both natural and artificial light.
Forsythe is the founder of the art collective, Supporting the Arts which was established in 2020. She is the curator for exhibitions that support local, international, and emerging artists. Supporting the Arts was created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, she realised the impact the pandemic had on the arts and decided to host an online exhibition to support creatives within the U.K. 

Sarah-Jane Mason and Simon Turner with Anum Farooq

Sarah-Jane Mason and Simon Turner with Anum Farooq
THE WORLD OF INTERNATIONAL ART FESTIVAL DIRECTORS, ARTISTS AND THE FUTURE OF WELLNESS
 
Behind the scenes at the logistics and future plans of the Lacuna Contemporary International Art Festival with Directors Sarah-Jane Mason and Simon Turner, as well as their insights into their respective artistic processes and perspectives on the  future relationship between art and wellness.
 
Sarah-Jane Mason is a Creative Practitioner, Facilitator & Educator who specialises in using mixed media approaches to personal and participatory arts projects. She believes that creativity is the key that unlocks learning and that play and experimentation are important parts of the creative process.
Sarah-Jane comes from a traditional Fine Art background. She studied for a BA (Hons) Fine Art at Liverpool John Moore's University (UK) and DipCipris (a postgraduate degree) in Fine Art at the Cyprus College of Art (Cyprus). Continuing her studies, she focused on creative education, completing a PGCE (Art & Design) at the University of Leeds (UK) and a Post-16 Teaching Certificate at Cyprus College of Art (Cyprus).
Her role as the director of an annual, international, contemporary art festival is an important aspect of her arts practice. This position allows Sarah-Jane the opportunity to create an environment and hold a space where artists and audience members can interact, question, share and otherwise meaningfully engage with each other. She is supported in her work for Lacuna Festivals by land artist, Simon Turner.
As part of her work in creative education, Sarah-Jane plans and delivers participatory arts projects, often aimed at those for who there may be significant barriers to engagement. In addition, Sarah-Jane runs a publishing company, Next Generation Publications, that publishes visual books created by and for children and young people. Past books are held in the British library collections as well as in local libraries, schools and community centres.  
Simon is a self-taught land artist, eco-friendly jewellery designer and photographer with an interest in reducing our impact on the planet. 
Land art interventions are an important part of Simon's practice which he uses as an opportunity to draw attention to everyday landscapes.  Simon is also an eco-friendly designer and set up PNEÜ! to showcase his jewellery designs, created predominantly from waste rubber products including bicycle tyres and inner-tubes. He is continually developing his knowledge of working with waste products, to create new pieces of sculpture, interior decor and jewellery; experimenting and exploring with new ideas for upcycling.