Walking out of Lockdown

“Hardship forges characters. I don’t think if one had an easy life, all his life, he would have so much to share with the world. The struggle builds you, builds men, but even more builds women as it is always harder for women. Lessons come from life itself but also from role models we follow, the kind we always present in HOME Magazine.” Patricia Bitar Cherfan, founder and editor in chief of HOME Magazine, Lebanon’s premier English language publication.

In this episode, culture, fashion and style icon, Cayetana Soto de Garcillan reflects on how moments like this inspire revolution and creativity. "I'm really looking for this to happen, for people to come out of this lockdown with much more intentions of being creative and express themselves in a way, you know. But as well, I felt like we were going to come out with much more humanity. And I found I found myself wrong on that."

In this episode, sound designer and culture protagonist, David Almeida-Ribeiro reflects on the noise vacuum of lockdown and recording urban scenes that would typically be impossible. Mark Abouzeid and David, who is based in Vienna, Austria, reflect upon the nature of time and giving yourself a break while questioning just how long freelancers can continue to survive the crisis.

Mark Abouzeid welcomes Simon Lüling, a documentary filmmaker and agroforestry innovator, based in Paris, France. While others were staring in the headlights of lockdown shock, Simon managed the cancellation of a 30,000 attendee event and created a new platform for Agroforestry projects starting in Brazil.

Mark Abouzeid welcomes Dorin Vasilescu, a commercial photographer based in Florence, Italy. Dorin discusses the lockdown in Italy, his new series of the tourism capital devoid of people and how the time he spent in lockdown with his wife and daughter were quite memorable.

Mark Abouzeid welcomes Fernanda Ondarza Dovali, a recent fashion design graduate and innovator behind Glitch Magazine. Fernanda talks about losing her smell and taste to Covid, launching a hybrid fashion initiative and how social distancing will impact the fashion industry.

In a special episode, Mark Abouzeid talks with Frank Coles, an RGS explorer and author of numerous books. The two share memories of expeditions as they discuss Frank's families experience of suffering Covid-19 as well as thoughts on the necessity of epic failure in inspiring creativity.

Mark Abouzeid talks with Max Bosio, a creative specialist in the design industry and founder of Nascent Design, the impact Italy's lockdown had on his personal and professional life as well as ideas on how brand consumers are changing as a result.

Mark Abouzeid talks with Austrian dance pioneer, Victoria Primus, whose collaborative projects cross boundaries of performance, science and education. They chat about her experiences as a mother of two young children during lockdown and adapting her work to the web.

Mark Abouzeid talks with 'Arena' filmmaker, Ricardo Leòn, about his experiences in during Denmark's lockdown and how his two cultures (Danish and Venezuela) reacted so differently to the same crisis. He wonders, "who is lying?"