Submit Your Creative Work
for inclusion in The Creative Process
traveling exhibition or website
THE CREATIVE PROCESS
Tell us about yourself.
BASILE GUICHARD
Hi! I'm Basile Guichard, I'm currently 16 years old, and I am French native. I am a young ambassador for The Creative Process. My main job is to collect and curate high-schoolers creative works. I think that the most interesting part of being in The Creative Process is definitely to learn how to collaborate and work with people I would never have worked with before. Also, to discover how to curate and do things that are so unique and that I have the privilege and the experience to do. This project is such an interesting and thought-provoking chance for me, and I am really so glad to have this opportunity. Presently, my aims are to collect and curate as many interesting pieces from high-schoolers to add to the exhibition. Hopefully, from all around the world. Once approved these works will be integrated as part of The Creative Process. I think we will always need the arts because, at the core of society, it is what we use to share ideas, concepts, and emotions. I think these are vital and will never go away.
THE CREATIVE PROCESS
We've been delighted with the works you have curated so far in the projection elements of our traveling exhibition. It's quite an international collection. And you have lived all over the world. How has shaped that your view of art?
GUICHARD
Although I now live in Paris, I have lived all over the world and have grown up in an international environment. I have lived in Uganda, Nigeria, Jordan and most recently Vietnam. I have studied both in the French and British schooling systems, and I am now enrolled in the International Baccalaureate (IB) program at the EiB The Victor Hugo School. In my free time, I like going out with friends, spending time with my family and watching shows I love on YouTube or Netflix. In life, I strive to be an actor and enter a known drama school. I find all facets to theatre exceptionally interesting and enjoy watching or working on any piece, although I have a penchant for more modern performances, such as Peter Shaffer's "Equus", or the works of Sarah Kane. I also sometimes write poems or doodle in my art journal.
THE CREATIVE PROCESS
What inspires you to write?
GUICHARD
I mostly tend to write about my feelings or emotions and use what I see, both on social media and in real life, whether in Paris, Saigon or anywhere else in the world, to create a story and hopefully something interesting and captivating. I usually tend to write from a theatrical perspective, as if these poems were to be read on stage or with a musical background.
THE CREATIVE PROCESS
Yes, you wrote a moving poem, "Hibiscus Heart", full of this sense of lost innocence, lost time and memories of Vietnam.
GUICHARD
I think the main reason for which I write poems is to lift the weight off my shoulders and put pen on paper to get rid of negative emotions or thoughts that have been bothering me. I also think that throughout my poems I use a lot of inspiration from things I found beautiful, and in a way, I feel like I celebrate those inspirations. These range from an Instagram post, to a music video or simply somewhere I visited.
THE CREATIVE PROCESS
What are some of your formative influences? When did you develop your love for the arts? Do you come from a family of artists?
GUICHARD
Although my family loves reading and encourages to read as much as possible, the only artist I have in my family is my grandmother. She paints. Apart from that, my other grandmother has translated a few books from Hungarian into French, but I can't characterize my family as a hugely artistic family. They do however wholeheartedly encourage me in my goal of becoming an actor, which I am grateful for.
THE CREATIVE PROCESS
What other art forms interest you?
GUICHARD
Well, as I said, my passion is theatre but I also quite enjoy movies, modern art, music, and dance.
THE CREATIVE PROCESS
As our one of our Young Artist Ambassadors, you will be reading and inviting submissions across a variety of disciplines–writing, art, short films, academic essays, music... Is there anything, in particular, you are looking for from a work of art? Is there anything a young artist should know before they send their work to you?
GUICHARD
I think that I’m going to be mainly looking for truth. I’m not interested in fake feelings or written works that have been created just for the sake of having been written. I want to know that someone poured in their all, their raw emotions into a piece. I just want to see the authenticity of that particular piece.
